How Ivermectin Became a Belief System

[Nevilledog]

https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2023/03/ivermectin-medical-subculture-covid-pandemic/673467/

No paywall
https://archive.is/yLsw9

Since fall 2021, Daniel Lemoi has been a central figure in the online community dedicated to experimental use of the antiparasitic drug ivermectin. “You guys all know I’m not a doctor,” he often reminded them. “I’m a guy that grew up on a farm. I ran equipment all my life. I live on a dirt road and I drive an old truck—a 30-year-old truck. I’m just one of you.” Lemoi’s folksy Rhode Island accent, his avowed regular-guy-ness, and his refusal to take any money in exchange for his advice made him into an alt-wellness influencer and a personal hero for those who followed him. He joked about his tell-it-like-it-is style and liberal use of curse words: “If you don’t like my mouth, go pray to God, because he’s the one that chose me for this mission.”

Last March, during an episode of his biweekly podcast, Dirt Road Discussions, he thanked his audience for their commitment to his ivermectin lifestyle: “I love that you guys are all here trusting my voice.” His group currently has more than 130,000 members and lives on Telegram, a messaging app that has become popular as an alternative social-media network. When Lemoi died earlier this month, at age 50, his followers found out via the chat. As first reported by Vice, Lemoi had given no indication that his health may have been failing. In fact, one of his last posts in the group was from the morning of the day he died: “HAPPY FRIDAY ALL YOU POISONOUS HORSE PASTE EATING SURVIVORS !!!”

Members of Lemoi’s family did not respond to requests for interviews, but according to his obituary, he was a heavy-equipment operator for a naval-engineering company. In the weekly podcast-style chats he hosted on his Telegram channel, he described working on the waterfront of the Narragansett Bay. He shared every detail of his ivermectin story with followers, starting on a Friday in August 2012 when he first started suffering from vertigolike symptoms. This kicked off a labyrinthine journey through the medical system, involving, he said, many huge courses of antibiotics, bouts of extreme illness and pain, and a significant financial burden. (“And alone, living alone, like this whole thing—it was just me,” he explained in a chat recorded in November 2022.) Finally, in January 2017, a doctor specializing in Lyme disease prescribed Lemoi hydroxychloroquine. He was shocked to learn that it would cost him $288 a month. “So I had no choice,” he told his followers. “I had to go with Plan B.” He got the idea to take ivermectin from a friend’s daughter, who was studying to be a veterinarian and had, according to Lemoi, written a paper about the genetic similarities between horses and people.

After Lemoi’s death, whoever took over the Telegram chat wrote to the group that “his heart was quite literally overworking and overgrowing beyond its capacity, nearly doubled in size from what it should have been.” Previously, Lemoi had claimed to have no side effects from ivermectin except for “herxing”—a term borrowed from the world of chronic Lyme disease, which he used to describe symptoms such as dizziness, chills, fatigue, sweating, headaches, and blurred vision. All of these, he told his audience, were temporary. Although ivermectin has not been cited as a cause of death, Ilan Schwartz, an infectious-disease expert at the Duke University School of Medicine, explained that it could have contributed to Lemoi’s health problems. “Incorrect use—mostly encountered in the last few years when people self-medicate, often with veterinary formulations of the drug—can cause damage to a wide range of organs, most notably the brain and gastrointestinal tract,” he told me. “Cardiovascular effects are occasionally seen, mostly low blood pressure and fast heart rate.” Regardless, the Telegram group has continued its daily routine of pro-ivermectin, antipharma posting—a sign that fringe content will continue to bloom on the fractured social web.

*snip*

[Ray Bruns]

1. "written a paper about the genetic similarities between horses and people"

I should’ve stopped reading right there. I should’ve, but I didn’t.

[Midnight Writer]

2. My ex tells me her new man has genetic similarities to a stallion. So there's that.

I should've stopped listening to her right there.

[allegorical oracle]

5. Ya think? As a former horse owner/rider, I never saw many similarities (4 feet vs 2 feet to start

with) between people and horses beyond the fact that horses are sensitive and fabulous creatures. This whole Ivermectin thing is CRAZY. My 1,000 lb horses didn't use the same amount of Ivermectin I (@ 100 pounds) would've needed. Used to ride on calls with my equine vet and there was no sharing of human/horse medications.

[Haggard Celine]

3. That's what happens when people scorn the learned

and listen to Joe Blow down the road. It's as simple as that.

[Johnny2X2X]

4. My nextdoor neighbor

Told this here before. Very sweet lady and a good neighbor. Not real political, but definitely a Trump supporter.

Had bladder cancer, the chemo was having bad side effects, so someone in her church group told her that Ivermectin cures cancer. She told her doctors she was stopping chemo to take Ivermectin, they tried to talk her out of it. She died in late Summer 2021, a couple months after she stopped chemo and started Ivermectin.

No idea if her cancer was that severe. No idea if chemo would have helped if she had continued it. But I know for sure Ivermectin didn't help her. I also think at the end she may have gotten Covid, but am not sure.

Really miss her, she was only 65 or so. She was a hoot, really funny and lived a fuin life. These people dying have friends, family and neighbors who miss them. It's a crime that people are still pushing Ivermectin for everything and they should be help responsible for the damage they are causing.

[maxsolomon]

6. Love how the article ends on a scolding note

It’s even harder to imagine anti-vaxxers engaging productively with a faction of the pro-vaccine mainstream that has begun to build a morally superior identity around its acceptance of science. Just look through the self-satisfied tweets about Lemoi’s death: “I just want to thank Danny Lemoi for his hard work in the extremely competitive field of ‘Natural Selection,’” a typical post reads. Another person wrote: “Here lies Danny Lemoi, who fucked around and found out.”

You mean mean Vaxxers.

[EarlG]

10. It's people like Danny Lemoi who caused

thousands to die unnecessarily during the pandemic by spreading that antivax/Ivermectin BS.

I’m not going to celebrate or joke about his death, but this dude did real harm to people.

[maxsolomon]

12. Not everyone has the ability to take that high road in the comments.

I think Schadenfreude is part of human nature, but I thought

"...the pro-vaccine mainstream that has begun to build a morally superior identity around its acceptance of science"

was uncalled for.

Of course it's hard to imagine "productive engagement" between Anti-Vax idiots and people who think they're dangerous fools. Duh.

Plus, the article didn't even provide that much of an explanation beyond Lemoi's idiocy and the Internet. Kaitlin Tiffany can bugger off.

[Ray Bruns]

14. Stupid should not only be called out but punished

[flying_wahini]

7. It SHOULD be a crime to promote this.

I mean in Texas they are making it a crime to even discuss options to find abortion meds/care.

[UTUSN]

8. How to send this to ROGAN? And Russell BRAND and MAHER.

[Bayard]

9. No comparison

My horses are WAY smarter than these people. My donkeys are smarter than me!

[Faux pas]

11. Kickin'

'Cuz sum peeple are soooo stoopid 🤪

[kairos12]

13. Who knew trash could take itself out. Yay!

[allegorical oracle]

16. No side effects except six temporary symptoms should signal that the course you're following isn't

healthy. Many of the trumpsters suffer from a similar characteristic: sheer bull-headedness. They genuinely believe they're right and the rest of the world, including medical experts, are wrong.

[blogslug]

17. Don't click any of the links in that person's post

fyi

[allegorical oracle]

19. Thx for that warning.... nt

[MissMillie]

18. One cannot help but wonder...

...if everyone had affordable access to regular health care, wouldn't they talk to their own doctors about medical issues?

My guy was on the fence about getting a COVID vaccine (yeah, I know--don't ask) and he was reading stuff online... yadda yadda...

I said to him, "You have a regular primary care physician that you trust. Doesn't it make sense to ask him?"

His doctor said, "The vaccine is very likely to keep you out of the hospital in the event that you are infected. You have several risk factors. You need to trust me on this--get the vaccine."