FDA 'You are not a horse' tweet amid ivermectin poison-control surge
As ivermectin prescriptions and self-medication with veterinary formulations climbed, poison-control centers in several states reported sharp increases in exposure calls. On August 21, 2021, the FDA tweeted 'You are not a horse. You are not a cow. Seriously, y'all. Stop it,' linking to its consumer update warning against ivermectin for COVID-19, which noted reports of hospitalizations after people took horse formulations. The post went viral and was widely mocked by ivermectin advocates, who stressed that ivermectin is also an approved human antiparasitic; it later became a central exhibit in a lawsuit (Apter v. HHS) by three doctors alleging FDA overstepped its authority by advising against off-label prescribing.
Primary quotes
“'You are not a horse. You are not a cow, Seriously, y'all. Stop it.' the Food and Drug Administration tweeted on Saturday”
AP report quoting the FDA tweet (AP's verbatim rendering, including its comma, preserved)
“The FDA has received multiple reports of patients who have required medical support and been hospitalized after self-medicating with ivermectin intended for horses.”
FDA consumer update
Flags / open questions
- •Live FDA consumer-update page now 404s; Wayback snapshot cited
- •Tweet text quoted via AP (original X post no longer reliably fetchable; removed under the Apter settlement)
Linked sources
Related contentions
Unresolved. The efficacy question for ivermectin in COVID-19 is largely settled against benefit in the major RCTs, but the dispute over the tone and legality of the FDA's messaging — and over whether early dismissal distorted research and prescribing — remains contested in court (Apter v. HHS, revived by the Fifth Circuit in 2023 and later settled with the FDA removing the posts) and in public debate.