From COVID meds to abortion. Why conservatives are fighting the FDA’s power to regulate drugs – By John Fritze (USA Today) / Oct 23, 2023
From vaping to abortion, conservatives are targeting FDA authority
WASHINGTON – The world was more than a year into the coronavirus pandemic when the Food and Drug Administration became alarmed about reports of Americans treating COVID-19 with an anti-parasitic drug often used in horses and cows.
Eager to head off an untested and potentially dangerous fad treatment, the agency posted a warning on its website noting that the drug, ivermectin, was not approved for COVID-19 and that ingesting doses of the drug frequently given to farm animals had already left “multiple” people in the hospital.
“You are not a horse. You are not a cow,” the FDA posted to social media in mid-2021 as COVID-19 vaccines were already widely available in the USA. “Seriously, y’all. Stop it.”