CNN says it won't apologize for 'bruising the ego' of Joe Rogan by claiming he'd taken 'horse dewormer' ivermectin for COVID infection - despite network Dr Sanjay Gupta groveling on Rogan's podcast
CNN refused to apologize to podcaster Joe Rogan for their claims that he took 'horse dewormer' ivermectin for his COVID-19 infection last month, even after the network's own doctor Sanjay Gupta groveled over the incident on Rogan's podcast.
In a statement to the Washington Post, the media network wrote, 'The only thing CNN did wrong here was bruise the ego of a popular podcaster who pushed dangerous conspiracy theories and risked the lives of millions of people in doing so.'
CNN had gone after Rogan for promoting the anti-parasitic medication, along with other treatments prescribed by doctors, to fight the COVID infection he caught in September.
Rogan had fired back at the news outlet for not specifying that he took the version of ivermectin prescribed for human use rather, than the version used for livestock.
Joe Rogan, left, has been in a dispute with CNN over his user of the anti-parasitic medication, ivermectin. He confronted the networks' chief medical analyst, Sanjay Gupta last week
Rogan's key complaint against CNN is that they did not explain that there were two types of ivermectin: one that's meant for people that Rogan took, left, and one for livestock
The podcast giant earned two victories in the past week after CNN's chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta admitted his colleague's should not have said Rogan took horse dewormers while on The Joe Rogan Experience podcast last week.
Then, one of CNN's political commentator's, Mary Katherine Ham, spoke out against her employer and defended Rogan.
Despite this, CNN's Don Lemon continued to criticize Rogan earlier this week, and the company said in a statement on Thursday that their issue with Rogan's claims has 'never been about livestock versus human dosage of Ivermectin.'
'The issue is that a powerful voice in the media, who by example and through his platform, sowed doubt in the proven and approved science of vaccines while promoting the use of an unproven treatment for covid-19 — a drug developed to ward off parasites in farm animals.'
Rogan has slammed CNN on his popular podcast, The Joe Rogan Experience
The battle between Rogan and CNN heated up last Wednesday when Rogan grilled Gupta about the broadcaster's coverage of his use of the drug after he was diagnosed with Covid-19, which he claims he recovered from in five days.
After a tense back-and-forth, Gupta eventually agreed that the anti-parasite drug, which was prescribed to Rogan by a doctor, should never have been described by CNN as a horse de-wormer.
'Calling it a horse de-wormer is not the most flattering thing, I get that,' Gupta said.
'It's a lie,' Rogan responded.
'It's a lie on a news network … and it's a lie that they're conscious of. It's not a mistake. They're unfavorably framing it as veterinary medicine.'
Ivermectin can be used as a horse dewormer, but is also used to treat people, with Rogan given the correct prescription by his doctor.
The argument appeared to rumble last Friday when Ham tweeted in support of Rogan's accusation, branding the reporting 'horses***' - although she did not call out the network by name.
'Rogan is right that it's dishonest to say he took horse dewormer when he did not,' Ham tweeted.
Ham continued to criticize CNN calling their description of ivermectin as 'horse dewormer' as 'horses***'
Her tweet came after podcaster Joe Rogan slammed CNN's chief medical correspondent Sanjay Gupta for 'lying' about his course of treatment
'It was irresistible to dunk on him for a lot of people, so they went with that instead of sticking to 'hey, this anti-parasitic isn't recommended for COVID treatment,' which would've been credible.'
Studies have shown that Ivermectin decreases viral loads and may prevent COVID deaths, but the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control recommend against using it for COVID, saying further studies are needed.
The FDA went so far as to send out a tweet telling people: 'You are not a horse, you are not a cow. Seriously, y'all, stop it'.
That came amid reports of livestock stores being cleared of the drug, and warnings that the dosages given to animals were far too high for humans to take safely.
Gupta seemed to compare his CNN colleagues' assertions to the above tweet by the FDA
Rogan's promotion of the medicine came at a time when Americans were promoting the drug during the deadly Delta spike at the end of August and early September.
Calls for ivermectin poisoning saw a 163 per cent increase to a total of 1,143 throughout the US this year, according to the American Association of Poison Control Centers.
At the end of August, there were a total of 459 calls regarding ivermectin to poison control centers.
CNN's medical analyst Dr. Jonathan Reiner has said that what Rogan had done was dangerous.
'He's promoting, kind of a crazy jumble of, you know, sort of folk remedies and internet-prescribed drugs,' Reiner said . 'He should have more sense.'
Rogan has made controversial comments criticizing vaccines and coronavirus lockdown measures
Rogan has previously railed against vaccines and vaccine mandates, saying that young and healthy people don't need to be jabbed. On Wednesday, he also revealed that he was nearly vaccinated in Las Vegas a few months ago but missed his appointment, according to Newsweek.
Ivermectin was discovered from soil samples collected in Japan by microbiologist Satoshi Ōmura in 1970, according to the journal Trends in Parasitology.
Ōmura won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2015 along with American biologist William C. Campbell, of the pharmaceutical company Merck.
The Nobel committee wrote: 'Its impact on improving the overall health and welfare of hundreds of millions of men, women and children, mostly in poor and impoverished communities, remains unmatched.
'It continues to defy many preconceived concepts, with no drug resistance developing in humans despite years of extensive monotherapy. Tis has led to it being included on the World Health Organization's 'List of Essential Medicines,' a compilation of the most important medications needed in any basic health system.'
An August 21 article in the American Journal of Therapeutics concluded that 'using ivermectin early in the clinical course may reduce numbers progressing to severe disease. The apparent safety and low cost suggest that ivermectin is likely to have a significant impact on the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic globally.'
The CDC says more 'adequately sized, well-designed, and well-conducted clinical trials are needed' before recommending Ivermectin for coronavirus.
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