by Darryl Betts
A September 6th letter posted on the web site of New Zealand government agency Pharmac, from Dr. Bryan Betty, the Medical Director of The Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners (RNZCGP) [1], said this:
“…it is very important to note that at this point there is no evidence that supports the use of this medicine in the treatment of COVID-19.” [my emphasis]
The letter – which constitutes guidance to all New Zealand doctors – appears to be one of the key justifications for the NZ government ignoring Ivermectin as a treatment for Covid-19, and for discouraging, and possibly punishing, doctors for prescribing it. To be charitable to Dr. Betty the government was ignoring Ivermectin long before September 6th 2021 so he may not be the only reason for a public health failure that may have cost many lives world-wide and may yet cost more lives.
Dr. Betty’s view appeared to be parroting the conclusion of the Cochrane report which is one of only a very small number of other documents posted on the site. Yet the Cochrane report dismissal of any evidence for Ivermectin has been analysed and found severely lacking by medical evidence expert Dr. Tess Lawrie and the BIRD Group in the UK. For example according to the BIRD Group “The Cochrane paper excluded so many studies it rendered itself powerless. It used 4 out of 24 available studies.” [2].
Those who have been following the saga of Ivermectin will know that Dr. Tess Lawrie and many other doctors and scientists all over the world believe there to be overwhelming evidence for the safety and effectiveness of Ivermectin for the prevention and early treatment of Covid-19. According to the BIRD Group, “63 studies, of them 31 Randomised Controlled Trials (RCT), 7 meta-analyses, 32 Observational Controlled Trials(OCT), multiple country case studies, expert opinion, patient testimony ALL pointing in favour of the medication” [2].
Yet 18 months since Ivermectin first showed significant promise at Monash university in Australia, and after compelling results from subsequent real-world deployments of the drug, Dr. Bryan Betty claims emphatically that there is “no evidence” for its effectiveness and discourages it’s use. To be fair, he is not the only one. We have seen similar behaviour in the medical authorities in Australia, the US, and in many other countries.
Today, I went to check the Pharmac web site, and found that although the link still exists, the letter it references has been removed from the RNZCGP web site [1].
Obviously I cannot reference Dr. Betty’s letter since it has now been removed. That removal in itself is a cause for concern.
I searched the RNZCGP web site and only found one entry on Ivermectin [3], which contains content similar to what was in the letter, but no mention of Dr. Betty’s name, and no sign of the letter itself.
My interpretation of this is that Dr. Betty is aware that he is potentially in very serious trouble and wishes to hide his involvement. Unfortunately for Dr. Betty the internet has a long memory and there are many people now aware of his influential role in the suppression of Ivermectin in New Zealand.
[1] https://pharmac.govt.nz/news-and-resources/covid19/ivermectin/
[2] https://bird-group.org/the-bbcs-recent-article-false-science-is-disintegrating-under-scrutiny/
[3] https://www.rnzcgp.org.nz/Covid19/College_support/Ivermectin/Covid19/College_support/Ivermectin.aspx