Channel 9 forced to issue apology to QEII
Channel Nine has been forced to issue an apology to Queen Elizabeth after A Current Affair aired a segment insinuating Her Majesty was using ivermectin to treat Covid.
Both the US Food and Drug Administration and Australia’s Therapeutic Goods Administration strongly warn against taking the “dangerous” drug to treat the virus, but it has frequently been championed by anti-vaxxers and conspiracy theorists.
On Monday night's episode of ACA, the program used stock footage of Stromectol, a brand of ivermectin, when interviewee Dr Mukesh Haikerwal was discussing approved medications that can be used for high-risk Covid patients.
The segment centred around Queen Elizabeth, who tested positive for Covid on Sunday.
Despite the footage being used in the segment, Dr Haikerwal, a Melbourne GP and former Australian Medical Association president, does not recommend ivermectin for use of treating Covid.
The online segment has since been edited to remove the controversial drug, with Nine Network issuing an apology.
“The shot was included as a result of human error,” the network said in a statement.
“We were highlighting an approved infusion medication called Sotrovimab and the report accidentally cut to a shot of Stromectol – a product which contains ivermectin."
“We did not intend to suggest Dr Mukesh Hawikerwal endorsed Stromectol. We’ve apologised to him this morning and he has accepted that apology.
“We do not suggest the Queen is using ivermectin.”
Before the segments edited, it was circulated widely online by ivermectin supporters in the anti-vaxx community.
One clip still being circulated on Twitter, and has garnered more than 2 million views.
Dr Hawikerwal used Twitter to share that the ivermectin images had been inadvertently used in the segment, adding he was grateful for people alerting him to the issue.
“This video has been used a lot here in Brazil by anti-vaxxers who claimed that the Queen was using ivermectin to treat Covid-19,” one person wrote on Twitter to Dr Hawikerwal.
“Thank you my friend for helping to clarify this misunderstanding that is being used to spread fake news here in Brazil. Ivermectin has become a political ideology here,” another wrote.
Image credits: Getty Images