Mel Gibson's statements led to widespread use of anti-parasitic drugs for cancer treatment

Prescriptions for the anti-parasitic drug Ivermectin more than doubled after a celebrity mentioned it as a cancer treatment on a popular podcast, according to a study by researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).

The surge in interest was fueled by an appearance by actor Mel Gibson on Joe Rogan’s podcast on January 9, 2025. During the show, the actor talked about three friends he knew who had stage 4 cancer and who, he claimed, were cured after taking Ivermectin and Fenbendazole. The interview segments have racked up tens of millions of views on social media in just a few weeks.

Although ivermectin and benzimidazoles (including fenbendazole) have shown antitumor activity in laboratory and animal studies, there is no clinical evidence of their safety and efficacy in treating cancer in humans. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved ivermectin exclusively for the treatment of parasitic infections in humans, while fenbendazole is only approved for veterinary use.

The largest increases in prescriptions were seen among men, white patients, residents of southern U.S. states, and people with cancer.

The findings, published in the journal JAMA Network Open, have raised concerns among scientists. They say that such statements by celebrities may encourage patients to resort to unproven methods, as a result of which they will either refuse scientifically based treatment or postpone it.

The study’s lead author, John N. Maffei, a professor at the David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California, San Diego, said that such a sharp increase in prescriptions after a single podcast is cause for serious concern.

The researchers compared the number of combined prescriptions of ivermectin and benzimidazoles between January and July 2025 with the same period the previous year. For this, they used anonymized electronic medical records of more than 68 million patients in the TriNetX research network.

The study showed that the total number of combined prescriptions of these drugs more than doubled after the podcast was released. Among cancer patients, this figure increased by more than 2.5 times, and in the southern states of the US, an increase of more than three times was recorded compared to the same period the previous year.

The study’s lead author, Michelle Rockwell, said the cases highlight how quickly unreliable information can influence people’s medical decisions.

The authors also note that the study has some limitations: it doesn’t prove a direct cause-and-effect relationship, the sample may not be representative of the entire U.S. population, and the analysis looked at doctor prescriptions rather than actual drug use.

The researchers say more research is needed to determine whether patients are switching from proven cancer treatments to similar drugs, whether this is causing them to worsen their condition, and what measures can be taken to combat medical misinformation more effectively.

Study co-author Catherine Kahn added that not all medical information that is made public is reliable, even if it comes from well-known and influential people.