Tennessee pharmacies sell potent ivermectin, led by doctor who's taken 'bucketloads'

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: ABC News

June 17, 2026, 5:38 AM


NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Four years ago, Tennessee became the first state to allow adults to buy the antiparasitic drug ivermectin from a pharmacy without first seeing a doctor. Pharmacies can use a pre-written, blanket prescription to sell to just about anyone who walks through their doors. The drug is now marketed and sold across the state in roadside shops and small-town strip malls with little oversight from health authorities.

Highway billboards advertise ivermectin as "Available Without a Prescription in Tennessee!" while dozens of pharmacies offer highly concentrated pills, sometimes at 10 or 20 times the potency of a standard tablet. Ivermectin is a Nobel Prize-winning, generally safe drug approved by the FDA for treating parasitic diseases in humans, which can generally be done with a single dose of three or four prescription-strength tablets. It is also used as a dewormer for horses and other livestock.

Its popularity surged during the coronavirus pandemic as unorthodox doctors and anti-vaccine activists promoted it as a treatment for COVID-19. Clinical trials have shown that ivermectin is not effective against COVID-19. Nonetheless, it has since become a symbol of resistance against the medical establishment among some conservatives and followers of the Make America Healthy Again movement, championed by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Timothy Caulfield, a professor at the University of Alberta who studies health misinformation, said ivermectin became an "ideological flag" during the COVID-19 pandemic, opening the door for influencers to push the drug for other ailments to a "captured audience" even without proof it works for those conditions. "This is really about profit," Caulfield said in an interview with ABC News, which partnered with KFF Health News to report on ivermectin. "This is about political identity. This is about creating distrust in the existing biomedical community. This is about money."

Read more: https://abcnews.com/US/tennessee-pharmacies-sell-potent-ivermectin-led-doctor-bucketloads/story?id=132977175

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[DBoon]

1. Welcome to the 19th century

[ninjanurse]

32. Selling poison

In the 1800’s you could buy bottles of alcohol, opium, codeine over the counter. I see this pix says Providence, RI. My city. They used to give sedatives to teething babies, scary to think of now.

[Midnight Writer]

2. Friend of mine got COVID, refused to go to ER, took ivermectin instead.

He died on his living room couch.

MAGA, MAHA, it's all insanity that eats its own adherents.

[Maru Kitteh]

4. Coworker's roommate died much the same way, but after taking up ventilator space.

My coworker who is an RN waited until she was non-responsive and could no longer refuse the ambulance, which she had done twice already.

Too late to save her.

[pat_k]

16. Tragic. The MAHA people pushing this shit should be held liable.

In 2021 there was a report that stuck in my head. A guy (or perhaps his wife) sued a hospital to treat his COVID with ivermectin. The man died.

The story blew my mind back then.

I can't believe it is still a "thing."

[SunSeeker]

24. Trump sure as fuck didn't take Invermectin when he got Covid. Can't they see that?

That human puss ball survived because he got the best care in the the world, including cutting edge (science!) anti-viral treatments. But not Ivermectin.

[ninjanurse]

33. My Sympathy

And a curse on all the profiteers who mislead people

[hlthe2b]

3. Idiots. While reasonably safe at recommended doses for recommended uses, they are going to

promote parasitic resistance. Right now, we have no approved drugs for human cases of New World Screw Worm--which WILL happen if it is not controlled in cattle, pets and wildlife with the spread across the Mexican border. Right now, two drugs look promising for those human cases that are not caught sufficiently early to prevent larval migration beyond the skin and dermis. Based on anecdotes from South America, ivermectin is one. Lotilaner (already approved for use in canines as part of Elanco Credelio Quattro-- and being studied for prevention of Lyme Disease transmission from infected Ixodes ticks in humans) might be the other. Surgical removal of these larva can be incomplete and thus we have no approved drugs to use should we start seeing human cases to kill any migrating larva. And yes, they can migrate to the brain--something our brainless RFK Jr, should take note of, but won't.

So, these assholes are not only doing nothing to help themselves, but may well be putting many of us at risk in the future.

[erronis]

5. I'll bet that RFKJr and DumbassJT have cornered the market on ivermectin overdose meds.

Meanwhile the regime capos are getting their vaccines and other recommended medicines including mRNA, etc.

[NewEnglandAutumn]

9. There is no antidote

or established standard treatment. it will however improve the gene pool

[Buddyzbuddy]

6. Natural selection of the insanely stupid.

[ToxMarz]

7. Can it kill algae?

[SpankMe]

15. A big LOL to this!! n/t

[Figarosmom]

8. You know, I just don't care anymore what this idiots do

To themselves or their families. The kids grow up to be just like them in most cases. I'm just so down caring about them.

[Ford_Prefect]

10. Who's going to stand trial for the murders?? Who will be sued for liability and damages?????

[ninjanurse]

34. For misleading people

And persuading them to avoid meds that could save their lives, and just for profit

[jgmiller]

11. I realize I'm asking for the impossible but I want some of these people to explain to me

Why they have a problem taking a vacinne (essentially a drug) to help prevent COVID but they don't have a problem taking a drug not designed to fight COVID to fight COVID?

[pat_k]

17. The lunacy of cult belief systems. Inherent internal contradictions break down critical thinking.

Getting followers to hold conflicting beliefs isn't a bug for cults. It is a feature. For example, dear leader is both completely infallible and the victim of constant persecution.

When you're followers buy whatever you say, however much the things contradict each other, you know you've got them. They have stopped thinking and just follow.

[3catwoman3]

23. An excellent question.

I’m not sure I could bear to hear their answers.

[muriel_volestrangler]

25. I think it comes down to "people they trust", and "people they don't". And they've listened to talk radio for so long,

and watched Fox News, that "the establishment", meaning in this case real medical researchers and doctors, and bureaucrats who support them, are "don't trust" - the "don't trust the government (especially its 'experts' )" line has been pushed at them since the John Birch Society and Goldwater, I guess, and got a big boost from Reagan. And they trust anyone with smart patter who also opposes regulated medicine (proper research doesn't come with smart patter, of course - scientists let the data do the talking, and are rarely that way inclined anyway, and the same goes for bureaucrats).

[Ray Bruns]

28. Because they are morons. See Dunning Krueger effect.

[Botany]

13. Ivermectin is pushed in the right wing internet and media circles as a great cure all drug.

That misinformation is from Trump’s buddy Putin’s “Storm 15-16” propaganda machine with
the end goal of weakening America.


Robert Mardini, Director General of Geneva University Hospitals.
“Misinformation and disinformation are no longer sitting at the periphery of our challenges, but very much at the core, front and centre of the daily humanitarian response, but also clinical realities,” said Robert Mardini, Director General of Geneva University Hospitals and former head of the International Committee of the Red Cross.

“They influence how patients interpret their symptoms, whether they are they seek care, how they adhere to treatments, and how communities respond to public health recommendations

[sakabatou]

14. Great, another pill pusher, who snorts their own stash

[wolfie001]

18. I hope they all ingest bucketloads

I wouldn't stand in the way. Go for it, stupid jackasses. Every one of those clowns is a repuke.

[bmichaelh]

19. Not limited to COVID

Unfortunately, the people who buy this stuff will use it for other diseases; not just COVID.

They should not try to cure themselves but seek medical attention.

[flvegan]

20. Imagine being this stupid. n/t

[The Roux Comes First]

21. As If Tennessee Needed More Help in Their Desperate Striving for the Title of "Stupidest State"!

There is certainly some competition for that "prize," but this will definitely aid their cause.

[Blumancru]

31. They have a ways to go

To rival Mississippi and Meth Virginia. They are making a valiant effort, though.

As a friend (from West Virginia) said to me, “There’s dumb, and then there’s West Virginia dumb!”.

[summer_in_TX]

22. Texas has ivermectin over the counter too.

My pharmacy has prominent signs on the front door and the cashiers' counter and have for a few months.

[IronLionZion]

26. MAGAts everywhere should take bucketloads

we may have fewer of them by election day

[TheRickles]

27. Even prior to Covid, ivermectin was one of the most widely prescribed medications in the world.

Hundreds of millions of prescriptions have been dispensed in Africa to prevent river blindness and other tropical diseases, so if side-effects were a major problem, its use would surely have been discontinued long ago. And there's strong evidence that this usage pattern is related to the lower frequency of Covid cases in those countries when compared to adjacent African countries that didn't participate in these prevention programs.

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7968425/

[BumRushDaShow]

35. You do realize that the linked study was found to be flawed and roundly debunked

by much of the scientific community.

Investigating the Possible Reasons for the Low Reported Morbidity and Mortality of COVID-19 in African Countries: An Integrative Review. (2023 Apr 3)

(snip)

Vaccines and Drugs

Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) vaccination and ivermectin treatment for parasitic infections have been proposed as possible explanations for the low COVID-19 burden in Africa. BCG is known to have nonspecific benefits against other infections,31 and it may have protected Africa from COVID-19 in the same way. In an analysis of COVID-19 cases, Sharma et al32 noted that the incidence and mortality of COVID-19 were lower in countries where BCG is commonly given. However, in this study countries were not matched based on other contributing variables such as median age. Moreover, a randomized clinical trial of revaccination of BCG among health workers in South Africa showed no protective benefits of BCG against COVID-19.33 Other BCG clinical trial results are pending and may help us understand the effect of BCG in the COVID-19 pandemic.34

Ivermectin is an antiparasitic drug commonly given as a prophylaxis for parasitic infections. In an ecological study, Guerrero et al35 found lower mortality and infection rate of COVID-19 among African countries that use ivermectin as prophylaxis for parasitic infections. However, there was no control of confounding factors between these countries and it is not confirmed if the countries have given ivermectin in the immediate weeks before the pandemic. Although ivermectin has shown in vitro activity against SARS-CoV-2, the calculated effective human dose is much higher than the dose commonly given for parasitic infections.36,37 The World Health Organization and the Food and Drug Administration have only recommended the use of ivermectin only in clinical trials because there is no evidence of efficacy.38,39 This negates the role of ivermectin in reducing the COVID-19 burden in African countries

(xnip)

BBC did an extensive analysis and write-up on similar publications - https://www.bbc.com/news/health-58170809

[TheRickles]

36. I think there's more to the ivermectin (IVM) story.

Citation #37 (above) calculates that a very high dosage of IVM would be needed for it to be effective in humans. However, this analysis omits the use of zinc as a co-factor to be used with ivermectin in treating, or preventing, Covid. This trace mineral was a key part of the strategy implemented by Kory and others, but was not included in the major clinical trials which dismissed ivermectin's efficacy. The zinc facilitates the intracellular transfer of IVM, so that much lower, and potentially less toxic, doses of IVM would be required to be effective against the virus (as noted in citation #36).

A good review of some successful clinical trials of IVM is here (including links to several RCTs):
https://journals.lww.com/americantherapeutics/fulltext/2021/06000/review_of_the_emerging_evidence_demonstrating_the.4.aspx

[BumRushDaShow]

37. The article I linked basically indicated how many of the studies

neglected to account for other factors that may have impacted their findings outside of ivermectin (including co-treatments, age, geographic distribution, and even the lack of actual reporting of infections and/or deaths), and they instead claimed that it alone was some kind of cure.

I think many of us made note of states like FL that refused or intentionally delayed reporting of their COVID data to CDC. Now imagine some of the most rural and impoverished areas of the world that lack the resources to do comprehensive tallies.

[Vinca]

29. Gives me an idea for a new business: "The Tennessee Miracle Leech Company. They suck, you pay."

[Blumancru]

30. I have been looking for a new business opportunity

Maybe I can move to Tennessee and open an Ivermectin dispensary. Is it recreational there or just medical?
At one time I would have been upset to read about this. I don’t care any more. In fact I would bet that the right people will take Ivermectin and the right people won’t.
Any antiparasitic drug is toxic. It has to be, to be effective. The therapeutic dose is probably pretty close to the human liver damage dose.

Moderators, I hope this is not too insensitive.