Johnson Opposes Ventilators, Pushes Horse Medicine

Wisconsin’s Republican U.S. Senator Ron Johnson has come out with yet another statement opposing recommended medical treatments for COVID-19.

On Friday, Johnson appeared on the conservative show, Wendy Bell Radio, and told her that “ventilators, unfortunately, were doing more harm than good, they weren’t saving people…”

Johnson has in the past pushed the use of hydroxychloroquine as a way to fight COVID-19 and reduce the use of ventilators. But even former President Donald Trump stopped pushing that drug in the face of the FDA opposition and medical professionals warning the drug did not work and could cause harmful side effects.

On Friday Johnson also issued a tweet backing the use of ivermectin to fight COVID-19 and hailing the “courage and compassion” of “Dr. Kory” for pushing its use.

Ivermectin is used to treat pets and livestock and is not authorized by the Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of COVID-19. After months of warnings of the risks, on Saturday, the FDA warned on Twitter that, “You are not a horse. You are not a cow. Seriously, y’ll. Stop it” and linking to an FDA statement declaring that ivermectin “is not authorized for treating” COVID-19 and “can be dangerous and even lethal.”

As for Dr. Pierre Kory, he was given a huge megaphone to push this controversial remedy by Johnson, when the Republican still ran the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. Johnson was excoriated for featuring testimony by those pushing unproven fringe medical views and treatments. That included Kory, who has written that his testimony “had over 8 million views.”

The video of his testimony, he complained, was later “yanked by YouTube. The platform has flagged any talk highlighting the evidence-based effectiveness of the drug as ‘medical misinformation’.”

Kory has suggested there is a conspiracy by the “Gods of Science” to prevent the use of ivermectin.

Kory had worked for Aurora St. Luke’s Medical Center in Milwaukee, but after his testimony attracted widespread attention, Kory said, Aurora St. Luke’s “tried to impose new contract restrictions that he claims would have interfered with his free speech,” as the Washington Post reported. “He refused to accept the restrictions and left. The hospital declined to comment.”

In June YouTube suspended Johnson for one week for his promotion of hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin. Johnson released a statement complaining that “For the second time this year, YouTube has suspended me from its platform for talking about early treatment options for Covid-19. YouTube’s ongoing Covid censorship proves it has accumulated too much unaccountable power.”