Ivermectin is examined through its scientific origins and its shifting role in public life. The story follows hookworm outbreaks in the American South and later river blindness campaigns in West Africa. It connects these efforts to the modern spread of internet cures and viral misinformation. The narrative links medical distrust to how evidence is interpreted and circulated during health crises. It also shows how a highly effective anti-parasitic wonder drug became entangled with political conflict, public hope, and conspiracy theories. The result is a portrait of disease and treatment shaped by culture and policy as much as by medicine.
"Drug Story is an independent documentary podcast from journalist Thomas Goetz that explores the hidden history of medicine one drug at a time. Each episode uses a single medication to examine the science, politics, culture, and human stories surrounding disease and treatment."
"This week, we're featuring one of their episodes about ivermectin, from Nobel Prize-winning anti-parasitic breakthrough to one of the most polarizing drugs of the COVID era. Along the way, the story travels from hookworm outbreaks in the American South to river blindness campaigns in West Africa, before arriving in the modern world of internet cures, medical distrust, and viral misinformation."
"It's a fascinating, deeply reported story about medicine, evidence, and how a genuine wonder drug became tangled up in politics, hope, and conspiracy."
Read at 99percentinvisible.org
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