Waffling over hydroxychloroquine has cost many lives

I should state at the outset that were it not for doctors, I would either be paralyzed or dead. I owe my mobility and probably my life to wonderful physicians. However, I will now state with equal certitude that the American medical profession as a whole and many individual doctors are responsible for the deaths of tens of thousands of Americans -- very possibly, more than that.

Along with the media -- from The New York Times to Google/YouTube, Facebook and Twitter -- Americans have been denied both life-saving information and life-saving drugs.

I am referring specifically to hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin. These drugs (along with zinc), which are as safe as any medicines humanity has taken in the last half-century, should have been used almost universally to treat COVID-19 patients as soon as those patients showed symptoms or tested positive -- and even as a prophylactic to prevent or minimize the effects of the illness in the first place. If they had been, it is likely that tens, maybe hundreds, of thousands of those who died of the virus would have lived.

For the record, I have been taking hydroxychloroquine and zinc (as well as vitamin D and selenium) on a regular basis for half a year, and ivermectin for the past three months. During this time, I have hugged hundreds of strangers at various events around the country, maskless. At home, I live with four people: my wife, two stepsons and the fiancee of one of the sons. That couple, both in their mid-20s, developed symptoms and then tested positive for COVID-19 a month ago. They were the only two members of the family not to be on hydroxychloroquine or ivermectin. And while they were ill, my wife and I practiced no social distancing, wore no masks in the house and tested negative twice. (As responsible citizens, we quarantined at home for 14 days.)

The son and his fiancee immediately began a treatment of hydroxychloroquine, zinc, ivermectin, vitamin D and selenium, and within half a day were feeling better. A few days later, all their symptoms had vanished.

Of course, the medical establishment, the media and others committed to irrationality, fear, making fortunes from pharmaceutical companies and keeping Americans from a normal life will dismiss all this as just anecdotes. But I ask: How many anecdotes about the effectiveness of these safe drugs does it take to persuade people? Given how safe hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin are, what could we have possibly lost by allowing millions of people to take these medicines?

But what if Dr. Anthony Fauci, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, The New York Times, CNN, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Institutes of Health and the poor souls who trust them are wrong? The price we have paid is tens of thousands of dead Americans, and quite possibly more than that.

We paid another horrific price for listening to the medical establishment, the colluding media, Democratic governors and others on the left. We have killed much of our economy; robbed tens of millions of Americans of their livelihoods; perhaps ensured future inflation that will further destroy the well-being of the American people; and sent innumerable Americans spiraling into depression, drug and alcohol use, spousal and child abuse, and suicide.

I offer an example of NIH dishonesty bordering on malpractice. On Nov. 9, 2020, the NIH issued a report titled “Hydroxychloroquine Does Not Benefit Adults Hospitalized With COVID-19.” This was dishonest for two reasons: First, zinc wasn’t used. While hydroxychloroquine alone can help fight COVID-19, every physician who prescribes it to COVID-19 patients insists it be accompanied by zinc. Second, everyone who advocates the use of hydroxychloroquine and zinc to fight COVID-19 insists it be given as early as possible, i.e., before hospitalization.

So, the NIH test was useless. Why those who conducted it did not give patients zinc and waited until they were hospitalized are such obvious questions that either those doctors were ignorant of hydroxychloroquine protocols or they set the test up to fail. Either explanation constitutes a moral and medical scandal.

It is extremely important to note the report concluded that hydroxychloroquine was “found not to cause harm.”

Now to ivermectin. The NIH, on Aug. 27, 2020, announced: “The COVID-19 Treatment Guidelines Panel recommends against the use of ivermectin for the treatment of COVID-19, except in a clinical trial.”

However, three months later, on Nov. 28, 2020, the NIH published this finding: “Countries with routine mass drug administration of prophylactic chemotherapy including ivermectin have a significantly lower incidence of COVID-19.” Consequently, on Jan. 14, 2021, the NIH withdrew its opposition to ivermectin -- but, incredibly, still refused to endorse it.

How many Americans died from COVID-19 because of NIH waffling? When we get to the other side of the COVID-19 crisis and all the damage is tallied -- the unnecessary deaths and ruined lives -- the medical establishment, the media and many politicians are going to have a lot to answer for.

At a great price, we have learned that “follow the science” and “follow the scientists” are not the same thing. We have followed the latter off a cliff.

DENNIS PRAGER is a nationally syndicated radio talk-show host and columnist. He may be contacted at dennisprager.com.