Joe Grinsteiner is a crowd-pleasing online personality who promotes anti-parasitized ivermectin. In a recent Facebook video, he produced tubes of veterinary grade Ivermectin paste of the kind made for horses for veterinary horses.
He squeezed it into the tube. He then licked and drank the slug.
“Yum” and Grinsteiner in the February 25 video was one of the Ivermectin-related posts that pulled millions of views on Facebook this year. “In fact, it tastes like dead cancer.”
Ivermectin, a drug that has been proven to treat certain parasitic diseases, has exploded in popularity during the pandemic amid false claims that it can be treated Or prevent Covid-19. Now, despite the enduring message from federal health officials that medical benefits are limited, interest in ivermectin is rising again.
Glynsteiner, 54, is a Trump supporter and country music performer who lives in rural Michigan. He claims in his video that Ivermectin has cured his skin cancer and his wife's cervical cancer. In a video last month, he said that after the woman used ivermectin, her child with nonverbal autism, had been verbally verbally. In a recent phone interview, Glinsteiner said he takes Ivermectin every day to maintain his general well-being.
There is no evidence to support people taking ivermectin treating cancer or autism. But Glinsteiner believes that medical and political facilities simply want to prevent the average person from discovering the healing powers of relatively affordable drugs.
“These guys are absolutely driving money,” he said in one video. “And when I say 'these people,' I take money from the big pharmaceutical companies for all the politicians in Washington. ”
Certainly, ivermectin has become a kind of permanent pharmacological maga hat. It is a symbol of resistance to what part of the movement describes as an elitist and corrupt cobalt of politicians, scientists and medical professionals. While many of these experts fear misinformation about ivermectin can lead to overdoses, they are promoting laws that allow conservative lawmakers in many states to be sold without precistapsin, often in the name of medical freedom.
Last week, Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed a law that would allow ivermectin to be sold at the counter. Other laws are pending in at least six states: Kentucky, West Virginia, Louisiana, Georgia, Alabama and Texas. In 2022, Tennessee passed a law that would make it easier to obtain ivermectin from pharmacists.
President Trump's new health secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., has previously embraced the idea that Ivermectin can treat Covid, but it remains unclear whether he might try to integrate the drug into “re-incorporating American health.” Kennedy did not respond to requests for an interview for this article.
However, in 2021 he filed a petition with the Food and Drug Administration, asking authorities to exempt covid vaccine approval, claiming that ivermectin is safer.
The Food and Drug Administration continues to emphasize that ivermectin is not approved or approved for Covid treatment. “Currently available clinical trial data do not show that ivermectin is effective against Covid-19 in humans.” Robert Caliph, who headed the FDA in the Obama and Biden administrations, said he is concerned about people who choose ivermectin over proven treatments, such as cancer vaccinations and cancer chemotherapy. He also said he is worried about overdose, especially among people who take the veterinary form. At high doses, ivermectin is toxic and can cause central nervous system problems such as vision, confusion and seizures. The FDA also warns that high doses can lead to coma or death.
However, right-wing media is full of drug ads. Some ads describe it as an important component of the Survivalist Toolkit. The website Gateway Pundit recently ran a sponsored post from an online company that offers prescription ivermectin for “stocking up” purposes, using post-apocalyptic street scene illustrations.
Two key figures in the MAGA movement – former Florida president Matt Gaetz and FBI assistant director Dan Bongino, “promoted all family pharmacies, online outfits that eliminate prescriptions from licensed doctors.
“We're no longer fighting the system for the treatment you want,” Bongino said in an episode of his popular podcast in his last one before the FBI began “before stocking up before the next crisis begins.”
The ongoing interest in ivermectin is little surprising to Lewis A. Grossman, a law professor and historian at an American university who wrote extensively about the concept of “therapeutic choice.” Grossman said many treatments have become popular in American history despite little or no buy-in from medical professionals.
For example, he said Laetrile, an unproven cancer treatment that originated in the apricot pit, which had surged in popularity in the 1970s. Actor Steve McQueen used it for failing to fight cancer.
With the high popularity of Laetrile, supporters praised its affordable prices and opposed the “conspiracy” of the major medical government against it, but many experts classified it as Quackery. The FDA never approved it for treatments for cancer or other therapeutic use, Grossman said.
“The Ivermectin story fits into a very long tradition of people based on non-orthodox therapy, based on suspicion that drug companies and doctors are suppressing the truth about them for reasons to maximize profits,” Grossman said.
Glinsteiner said he is familiar with Ivermectin because he runs a small farm and uses it on some of his livestock. He had doubts about the Covid vaccine and instead decided to take Ivermectin prophylactically during the pandemic. His wife did that too.
She became pregnant six months after she started taking Ivermectin regularly. They went to the doctor and Glinsteiner said, and found out that a previously diagnosed cervical cancer had resolved. He also said he rubbed Ivermectin at the location of cancer in his nose. He added that the place was cleared and the doctor later told him he had no cancer.
He made his first Facebook video in January about his experience with Ivermectin. “It was probably a one-minute video, so I went to sleep,” he said. “And then I woke up and my phone was just melting.”
Facebook temporarily suspended his account and revived it. The company links to some of his videos to the “context” page from group science feedback to verify the facts.
This page points out that ivermectin and another antiparasitic drug mebendazole “show promising anticancer effects.” in vitro and animal research. However, preclinical studies cannot reliably predict the efficacy of drugs against human cancer. Additionally, drug candidates that demonstrate cellular and animal efficacy often fail in clinical trials. ”
Still, Grinsteiner is unhappy with Facebook and has launched an independent website that he often mentions in his Facebook posts. On the site, Glinsteiner says he doesn't give advice on “what to take (or) how to take it.” Rather, he said it was a place where people compare notes.
So far, visitors to the site have discussed ivermectin as a potential treatment for neurological disorders, renal failure, lupus and other diseases. Grinsteiner sells the T-shirt for $15.68, declaring, “Ivermectin has tackled the DC parasites!”
Many lawmakers pushing ivermectin to make it easier to buy in their states say they want to help constituents who are already taking it.
“The members brought it to me, and it wasn't something I thought of myself,” said the Arkansas senator, a Republican who sponsored the new law there.
Clark said “they're pretty much going to the AG store” for Ivermectin. “And it's much safer to use things that they are intended for human consumption.”
Professor Grossman said it has long been assumed that the state does not have the authority to make prescription drugs available at the counter.
Many lawmakers, like Texas state representative Wes Wildel, who are trying to make access to ivermectin, say they are promoting what Republican Valerdel calls “medical freedom.”
“I think people should be able to choose the route they want,” he said. “Even if they're wrong, right?”
Former FDA commissioner Dr. Caliph sees that differently.
“Every intervention has risks,” he said. “And if you have no benefits and there is any risk, why on earth there is no reasonable reason for someone to intervene.”
Dani Blum Reports of contributions.
