Throughout the pandemic, we’ve been bombarded with the problematic opinions of certain classic rock stars related to the science behind COVID-19 prevention and treatment, and now it looks as though we’re moving on to the next generation. On Thursday, Julian Lennon and Sean Ono Lennon — sons of the late John Lennon, of course — advocated for ivermectin as a potential coronavirus cure, despite FDA warnings against taking it to treat the virus.
After revealing that he has COVID-19 (“Omicron finally got me. Happy Holidaze they are not. Stay Safe out there!” he wrote), Julian Lennon posted a photo of ivermectin tablets to his Instagram account on Thursday night.
“The Beginning of the End…. Hopefully 🙏🏻” he captioned it. “(I decided this course of healing, after consultation with DRs outside of the US, where treatment, administered correctly, helped greatly & swiftly with recovery…
Each to their own, but insulting my intelligence because of MY choices, well, there’s not enough medication in the World for that)”
After his followers began to point out that taking ivermectin as a COVID-19 treatment is ineffective and dangerous in the comment section of the post, his half-brother Sean Ono Lennon rushed to his defense.
“People saying Ivermectin is for horses here have never looked into this at all,” Ono Lennon wrote. “It is not ‘for horses.’ Especially not the ivermectin humans take. In fact it is ‘for humans.’ And the one for horses is ‘for horses.’”
While he’s technically correct that ivermectin tablets are occasionally used at very specific doses in humans to treat parasitic worms and other conditions, they are not a COVID-19 treatment. The FDA is extremely clear about this: “The FDA has not authorized or approved ivermectin for use in preventing or treating COVID-19 in humans or animals. Ivermectin is approved for human use to treat infections caused by some parasitic worms and head lice and skin conditions like rosacea.”
“Even the levels of ivermectin for approved human uses can interact with other medications, like blood-thinners,” the organization’s warning about ivermectin cautions. “You can also overdose on ivermectin, which can cause nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, hypotension (low blood pressure), allergic reactions (itching and hives), dizziness, ataxia (problems with balance), seizures, coma and even death.”
Again, to reiterate: ivermectin won’t get rid of your COVID, and it might in fact cause significant additional harm to you. Celebrities like the Lennon brothers or Joe Rogan — who, we must point out, have no medical or scientific background — who advocate for its use are spreading dangerous misinformation. All we can do is continue to push back against it and hope they eventually come to their senses and stop letting us down.
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