One of the Ivermectin-supporting studies included in Lawrie’s metastudy has been retracted due to glaring issues. This study (Elgazzar et al 2020) was the 5th largest study on Ivermectin by sample size (N=200) listed in the Bryant & Lawrie metastudy. Based on Figure 3 it looks like Elgazzar et al was one of only two studies that favored ivermectin without including the no-benefit line in the confidence interval.
Meanwhile, 6 other studies appeared to favor ivermectin but included the no-benefit line in their confidence interval, 1 study favored the control group and 2 studies sat in the middle. One of those, Fonseca 2021, had an especially narrow confidence interval centered around zero effect. This was not achieved via large sample size (N=167), but Fonseca 2021 was one of the few studies that ticked all the boxes for avoiding bias in Figure 2.
Now, it’s well known that there is often a positive publication bias in science, but Dr. Malone put his weight behind the claim that in this case there’s a negative publication bias. So, it’s still plausible that ivermectin helps, but it hardly looks like a slam dunk based on the metastudy’s Figures (I don’t have time to read the text so much).
One of the Ivermectin-supporting studies included in Lawrie’s metastudy has been retracted due to glaring issues. This study (Elgazzar et al 2020) was the 5th largest study on Ivermectin by sample size (N=200) listed in the Bryant & Lawrie metastudy. Based on Figure 3 it looks like Elgazzar et al was one of only two studies that favored ivermectin without including the no-benefit line in the confidence interval.
Meanwhile, 6 other studies appeared to favor ivermectin but included the no-benefit line in their confidence interval, 1 study favored the control group and 2 studies sat in the middle. One of those, Fonseca 2021, had an especially narrow confidence interval centered around zero effect. This was not achieved via large sample size (N=167), but Fonseca 2021 was one of the few studies that ticked all the boxes for avoiding bias in Figure 2.
Now, it’s well known that there is often a positive publication bias in science, but Dr. Malone put his weight behind the claim that in this case there’s a negative publication bias. So, it’s still plausible that ivermectin helps, but it hardly looks like a slam dunk based on the metastudy’s Figures (I don’t have time to read the text so much).
See a reproduction of Lawrie’s metastudy here.
Even without both of those constributions the result doesn’t meaningfully change.