Senator Johnson Makes Eyebrow-Raising Request

A United States senator has come out in support of a pseudo-medical British organization that approved the use of ivermectin to treat COVID-19.

U.S. health officials including National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Anthony Fauci discussed the policy around the same time, but 106 pages of those emails have been blacked out from public release.

U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., ranking member of the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, is now demanding Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra turn over unredacted copies of the 106 pages sent to Judicial Watch.

The documents contain a February 26, 2021, email from World Health Council founder Dr. Tess Lawrie to HHS and Food and Drug Administration officials regarding the British Ivermectin Recommendation Development organization’s finding that “ivermectin should be approved immediately for the prevention and treatment of covid-19.”

Johnson’s request has been met with derision, given the World Health Council’s reputation as a spreader of misinformation. Nevertheless, the senator remains undeterred.

Johnson reveals that “shortly after then-Acting FDA Commissioner Janet Woodcock received Dr. Lawrie’s email and attachment, she forwarded the message to other public health officials including Francis Collins, then-director of the National Institutes of Health, and Anthony Fauci, then-director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID).

Johnson reports that, along with forwarding Dr. Lawrie’s email, Dr. Woodcock appears to have written directly to Drs. Collins, Fauci and others.

That message is completely redacted in the released documents.

While the medical community agrees ivermectin is effective in fighting specific ailments, such as infections caused by parasitic worms, the FDA never approved it to treat coronavirus. Using a medicine or treatment for COVID-19 that wasn’t authorized can be hazardous. Fauci was among the first government officials who criticized its use as a COVID treatment and preventative and discouraged doctors from prescribing it.

Despite the FDA’s role in carefully evaluating scientific data to determine the safety and efficacy of treatment options, Johnson claims the process needs to be more transparent.

“The public has a right to know what information HHS, FDA, NIH, and NIAID officials reviewed regarding the effectiveness of ivermectin and how it considered or dismissed certain data. It’s past time for HHS to lift the redactions on the enclosed 106 pages and be transparent with the American people,” said Johnson.

The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the positions of American Liberty News.

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