In the wake of any major crisis these days, there’ll be people looking to hawk their own particular agenda. Case in point, there are already people trying to claim that ivermectin—an antiparasitic medication that some believe to be a miracle cure-all—can solve the hantavirus cruise ship outbreak.
Several people online, including well-known vaccine skeptics, are now pushing (and selling) the drug as a likely treatment for hantavirus. There is absolutely no evidence suggesting that ivermectin can treat the viral infection, however. It’s the latest instance of the drug being touted as a panacea for all sorts of health conditions, including cancer.
The ivermectin swindle
Ivermectin is a cheap and valuable antiparasitic that’s been widely used for decades.
Some research had suggested that it might also be effective against certain kinds of viruses, including the coronavirus that causes covid-19. That’s why it was one of many existing drugs that was tested as a potential treatment for covid-19 early on in the pandemic. Higher-quality studies, however, failed to find any benefits from ivermectin, while positive studies were often flagged for major methodological flaws or potential fraud.
These failures didn’t dissuade the drug’s most ardent believers, however, who tended to be right-wing and/or generally skeptical of mainstream medicine, particularly vaccines. Ironically enough, these people often also downplayed the pandemic’s dangers and criticized the public health response to it. To this day, many have continued to push ivermectin as a revolutionary treatment for not only viral diseases like covid-19 but also cancer (again, with little supporting evidence). GOP lawmakers in some states have even passed laws or crafted bills to make ivermectin over-the-counter, citing these claims or the need for medical freedom.
That brings us to the latest bit of crankery. On Wednesday, Mary Talley Bowden, a Texas-based doctor, claimed that since hantavirus is an RNA virus, “ivermectin should work against it.”
Bowden is most famous for having opposed the covid-19 vaccine mandates during the pandemic and promoting the use of ivermectin for covid-19. She’s also since argued that the covid-19 vaccines should be pulled from the market because they’re unsafe and could cause cancer (another popular talking point among anti-vaccination advocates).
In late 2021, she had her hospital privileges suspended by Houston Methodist Hospital for spreading covid-related misinformation (she later resigned). In 2025, following a lengthy process, the Texas Medical Board reprimanded Bowden for trying to treat a patient with ivermectin at a Fort Worth hospital without proper privileges. Bowden attempted to sue Houston Methodist Hospital for defamation over the public call-out, but the lawsuit was dismissed in 2023. She is still engaged in a lawsuit against the Texas Medical Board, which has garnered support from the current Texas Attorney General, Ken Paxton.
As mentioned earlier, there’s absolutely no reason to believe that ivermectin would help treat hantavirus, especially given its clear failure against covid-19. Moreover, as concerning as this cruise ship outbreak is, the danger to the average person right now is slim to none (the particular species behind this outbreak can spread between people, but not easily, it seems).
Bowden isn’t the only person backing ivermectin for hantavirus, but she might be the first trying to make a buck off it. Texas is one of the states that now allows over-the-counter ivermectin. On Thursday, she made another social media post offering ivermectin to any willing Texans for as low as $85 for a 100-pack. What a bargain for a perfectly useless placebo at best.
