Susie Keller, CEO of the Idaho Medical Association, and Dr. Steven Kohtz, a Medical Director with the St. Luke’s health system and President-Elect of the Idaho Medical Association, have filed a complaint against Dr. Ryan Cole, CEO of Cole Diagnostics and a member of Idaho’s Central District Health board. The core of their complaint is that Dr. Cole prescribes Ivermectin to his patients. Many major media outlets are printing the complaint, but not Cole’s response. Readers will find Dr. Cole’s complete response below.
Hospitals Are Refusing ‘Right to Try’
Throughout the country, most hospital doctors are adamantly refusing to administer Ivermectin, Hydroxychloroquine with zinc, and other non-CDC-approved treatments found to be effective in treating COVID-19 illnesses. Doctors are even refusing to administer these treatments under “right to try” circumstances when a patient is told they will die.
It is curious why these learned medical personnel claim Ivermectin is unproven in treating COVID-19. A 2021 paper published by the National Institutes of Health clearly states that a two-dose Ivermectin prophylaxis was associated with a 72% reduction in SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) infection among healthcare workers.
In December of 2020, pulmonologist Dr. Pierre Kory testified before the U.S. Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, saying, “If you take Ivermectin, the need for hospitalization—and death—will decrease.” Ivermectin earns Kory’s highest recommendation for treating COVID-19. He referenced dozens of studies and said that based on “mountains of scientific data,” Ivermectin “basically obliterates transmission of this virus.”
Evidence backing such statements continues to emerge. Earlier this year, the introduction of Ivermectin in fighting COVID-19 in Delhi, India, resulted in a 97% decline in COVID cases.
Complaint Not Exactly Honest
The complaint letter written by Keller and Kohtz appears to be less than honest. For example, one sentence from their complaint reads, “In fact, the significant weight of evidence is that [Ivermectin] is not helpful and can be harmful and contraindicated for the purpose for which he says he has used it.” Keller and Kohtz’s reference for that statement is a paper from the American Medical Association on why Ivermectin should not be used, yet that paper lists zero evidence to support Keller and Kohtz’s claim that Ivermectin is “not helpful.”
Additionally, the paper’s statement about an increased call to poison centers for Ivermectin comes from self-medicating using Ivermectin paste, not from any doctor’s prescription. Furthermore, the story out of Oklahoma about hospitals being overrun by people poisoning themselves with Ivermectin was found to be a complete fabrication (see here, here, and here).
Ivermectin Is Successfully Used in More than 20 Countries
Over 20 countries are successfully using Ivermectin in treating COVID-19. For example, earlier this year, Slovakia issued formal approval of Ivermectin for both prophylaxis use and the treatment of active COVID-19 patients. Germany has also been using Ivermectin to treat COVID-19, and a group of physicians there found that treating the elderly with Ivermectin resulted in a “sharp fall in mortality.” After introducing Ivermectin into its treatment protocol, Zimbabwe saw a 70% reduction in COVID hospitalizations and COVID deaths.
This writer reached out to Dr. Kohtz to learn why, as president-elect of the Idaho Medical Association, he is unaware of the successful use of Ivermectin in other countries. Kohtz was unavailable for comment, and more than 24 hours after being contacted, Kohtz still has not responded.
Dr. Cole is on record stating that if people have an issue with his statements or treatment protocols, they should bring their evidence and discuss it. “That is how we do science,” Cole has said.
The Keller and Kohtz complaint can be found here.
Dr. Cole’s Response
This writer reached out to Dr. Cole’s office for his response to the Keller and Kohtz complaint. His statement is reprinted here in total:
Statement from Dr. Cole on Board Complaint by the IMA
October 11, 2021
I invite members of the IMA, particularly the governing board behind this complaint, to sit down with me to discuss the nature of their concerns about my practice of medicine. Filing a complaint and threatening my license is unprofessional and sows distrust within the medical community and with patients in our state. My mission as a physician is to care for patients. I take my oath to “do no harm” very seriously. There are many ways to care for patients, and in times of crisis, as we have experienced in the last year, our profession must come together to examine all ways we can provide optimal medical care. I am an experienced and educated physician with authority to analyze data and share medical science. Medicine advances when we examine what is and is not working, when we notice patterns, and when we continually strive to improve and find answers to perplexing challenges. We can do better as a profession than to silence those who have a different perspective. My attorneys and I will be working with other physicians and attorneys around the country who have been wrongfully attacked in the media and by those within the medical profession as we fight back against these unfounded complaints and actions. I will continue to put the health and well-being of patients in our community, our state, and our nation first and foremost.
Ryan N. Cole, MD, FCAP
