Ivermectin is making news again because of a wrong Reuters report, and by the time Reuters made a correction, the Ivermectin Nuts had gone viral with the “good” news

MedPage Today

This past week in healthcare investigations

by Jennifer Henderson, Enterprise & Investigative Writer, MedPage Today February 2, 2022 Last Updated February 02, 2022

Ivermectin Story Bungled

Reuters Corrects Article on Ivermectin Efficacy

Reuters faced backlash this week after the news outlet published an article stating that ivermectin was “effective” against Omicron in phase III clinical trials.

However, that original statement was incorrect.

The article was updated Jan. 31 to read that a press release issued by Japanese company Kowa Co. Ltd. stated that ivermectin showed an “antiviral effect” against Omicron and other coronavirus variants in joint non-clinical research. Reuters reported that Kowa has been working with Tokyo’s Kitasato University on testing ivermectin as a potential treatment for COVID-19, but that the company did not provide further details.

Given how controversial the anti-parasitic drug has become during the course of the pandemic, even prompting a number of lawsuits brought by doctors and family members of COVID-19 patients, Twitter users were quick to call out Reuters’ misstatement.

One thread read in part that Reuters corrected its story “after damage was already done,” and that “the uncorrected version will live on, including on Covid conspiracy sites.”

Of the misstatement, a spokesperson for Reuters said the following in a statement provided to MedPage Today: “The original Reuters story misstated that ivermectin was ‘effective’ against Omicron in Phase III clinical trials, which are conducted in humans. We corrected this to clarify it had an ‘antiviral effect’ against Omicron and it was shown in joint non-clinical research. After being made aware of the error, we corrected our story immediately.”

https://www.medpagetoday.com/special-reports/exclusives/96981?xid=nl_mpt_investigative2022-02-02&eun=g1786573d0r&utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=InvestigativeMD_020222&utm_term=NL_Gen_Int_InvestigateMD_Active

DEBUNK—Ugh @Reuters messed up bad. The new Ivermectin study did **NOT** show it is effective in humans. Reuters hastily misread a press release based on only Omicron *lab results*, but confused thinking it was in humans. But old Reuters headline now all over right wing websites. https://t.co/0cASeswahp
— Eric Feigl-Ding (@DrEricDing) January 31, 2022

3) it’s not really surprising results at all – the press release is just pretty much, “duh we knew that, but it’s not human but we are really excited for the upcoming human trials—did we mention we found antiviral effects in a lab?” Puff press releases 🤦🏻‍♂️ https://t.co/Z25nUPUBCj
— Eric Feigl-Ding (@DrEricDing) January 31, 2022

Ivermectin works in a test tube.
🤭https://t.co/ZHOgE1cvRq
— simonthong aka kitty poo (@KittyPo80176717) February 2, 2022

See that test tube? https://t.co/DY1iFHhAmG pic.twitter.com/921KoyNKQr
— simonthong aka kitty poo (@KittyPo80176717) February 2, 2022

Reuters really screwed up just now, wrongly reporting that a Phase III clinical trial showed Ivermectin was effective against Omicron, and then correcting the story after damage was already done. pic.twitter.com/blZ3BsWBS2
— Arieh Kovler (@ariehkovler) January 31, 2022

The thing is, we already knew that Ivermectin shows antiviral properties against Sars-CoV-2 in a test tube. We've known that for months. That's why people initially thought it might be a treatment for Covid, until trials showed it didn't help. https://t.co/Si3YEohlxo pic.twitter.com/PurHwoV0y9
— Arieh Kovler (@ariehkovler) January 31, 2022

The Kowa press release says, basically, "you know how Ivermectin has an antiviral effect on Covid in a test tube? That still works for Omicron". Which, again, isn't surprising. The reverse would have been a much bigger surprise. pic.twitter.com/ePWR4ezug1
— Arieh Kovler (@ariehkovler) January 31, 2022

I'm blaming Reuters here more than Kowa because companies are always trying to obfuscate and over-imply in press releases. Trust me, I write them sometimes.
— Arieh Kovler (@ariehkovler) January 31, 2022

Reuters is a news agency. Its stories are syndicated to other publications worldwide, often instantly. It's fixed its story, but the uncorrected version will live on, including on Covid conspiracy sites. pic.twitter.com/aymJw3LtPX
— Arieh Kovler (@ariehkovler) January 31, 2022

Even the *corrected* story is getting massive play in antivax and covid-sceptic circles.

If Reuters had understood the press release, they wouldn't have run a story at all because there's nothing new here. But present it as news and people think it's news. pic.twitter.com/LzTkyK5g4x
— Arieh Kovler (@ariehkovler) January 31, 2022

https://twitter.com/dianekovacs/status/1488338832126885892?s=20&t=FWHm3NHmoMHHbaJDyhI4xg

HUH that's something independent journalists and researcher's have been telling you for many months NOW!!!https://t.co/bgSsF4ZTLy
— Luke Rudkowski (@Lukewearechange) January 31, 2022

REUTERS: Japan's Kowa says ivermectin effective against Omicron in phase III trial https://t.co/cd0e0X0boS
— Laura Ingraham (@IngrahamAngle) January 31, 2022

Rogan’s tweet came hours – like more than 10 hours – after Reuters corrected its story to make clear this company did *not* say ivermectin had been found effective against omicron in a clinical trial. Good thread here (https://t.co/LCjqR74q1m) on what the company did say. pic.twitter.com/NBACtsvryp
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) February 1, 2022