Thomas Goetz

But like Dr. Boulware explained, if it does not work, move on.

Find something better.

Because even when you test something that doesn't work, you still get a lot of placebo effects.

And each of those becomes an anecdote, a story, a testimonial.

And to a lot of people, anecdotes are much more compelling than statistics and p-values and relative risk reduction calculations.

And we should expect a lot more anecdotes.

Recently, five states, Tennessee, Arkansas, Idaho, Louisiana, and Texas, have voted to make ivermectin available over the counter, without a doctor's prescription.

These states are not seeing an upsurge in hookworm or any river blindness.

It's just for people who want it on hand, just in case.

In the name of, yes,

Medical freedom.

But freedom's just another word for trying to sell you something.

Just look at supplements.

It's no coincidence that a lot of people promising unproven things have a product they want you to buy.

This idea of evidence, of validity, it matters because when doctors or scientists say something doesn't work, they are not trying to deny people access to something.

They're not trying to hide something.

In fact, they're trying to find something, something that works.

And they're generally trying to save people from wasting time and money and hope.

And hope is particularly precious here because disease makes people desperate.

And nothing is more valuable in desperate times than hope.