The United States Food and Drug Association (FDA) likely overstepped its authority by encouraging Americans ‘stop’ taking ivermectin as a means of treating COVID-19, according to a U.S. federal appeals court.
Three doctors – Robert L. Apter, Mary Bowden, and Paul Marik – initially filed a lawsuit against the FDA, arguing that the organization cannot advise physicians on what they may or may not prescribe to their patients. Yet, their claim was initially dismissed in December 2022.
However, a panel of three judges on the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeal in New Orleans overruled the initial decision and found that the FDA’s campaign telling Americans, “You are not a horse. You are not a cow. Seriously y’all. Stop it.” left out the fact the drug is often prescribed to humans.
You are not a horse. You are not a cow. Seriously, y'all. Stop it. https://t.co/TWb75xYEY4
— U.S. FDA (@US_FDA) August 21, 2021
“FDA is not a physician. It has authority to inform, announce, and apprise—but not to endorse, denounce, or advise, stated the Trump-appointed judge Don Willett while delivering the verdict.
“The doctors have plausibly alleged that FDA’s Posts fell on the wrong side of the line between telling about and telling to,” Judge Willett added.
The decision enables the doctors to continue their lawsuit against the FDA after all three allege their reputations were harmed by the FDA’s campaign, including Bowden claiming she lost admitting privileges at a hospital in Texas and Marik losing his positions at a medical school for promoting the drug.