The antiparasitic drug ivermectin did not reduce the risk of being hospitalized with COVID-19, according to a large study published [March 30] in The New England Journal of Medicine.
Ivermectin was popularized as an alternative COVID-19 treatment despite a lack of strong evidence it helps. The recent study is among the largest that has failed to show a benefit.
In the study, researchers in Brazil compared more than 1,300 patients, some given ivermectin and others given a placebo, and found no difference between the groups.
Early in the pandemic, lab experiments on cells suggested ivermectin could have some promise, but studies in people failed to back that up.
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Use of ivermectin surged during the pandemic; internal data from the CDC reviewed by ABC News estimated a 19-fold increase of the drug being distributed during the first week of August 2021, amid the delta surge.
Online telehealth services have helped provide easy access to the deworming drug.
Some studies cited by ivermectin advocates as showing benefits of the drug in combating COVID-19 have been retracted for flawed or fabricated data and analysis, while many randomized trials have shown no benefits.
