Pierre Kory

Pierre Kory is an American critical care physician who gained attention during the COVID-19 pandemic for advocating widespread off-label use of certain drugs as treatments for COVID-19, as president and co-founder of the Front Line COVID-19 Critical Care Alliance (FLCCC).[1][2] Kory testified twice to the U.S. Senate regarding COVID-19. During his testimony in December 2020, Kory erroneously claimed that the antiparasitic medication ivermectin was a "wonder drug" with "miraculous effectiveness" against COVID-19.[3]

Medical education and career

In 2002, Kory graduated from St. George's University in Grenada with an MD and completed residency and fellowship training in critical care and pulmonary medicine.[4] He did clinical rotations at the Weill Cornell School of Medicine.[4] Kory first practiced in Madison, Wisconsin, at UW Health, which is the academic medical center at the University of Wisconsin. He served there as the medical director for the Trauma and Life Support Center, in the outpatient pulmonary medicine clinic, where he performed bronchoscopic and pleural procedures.[4] Kory was the critical care service chief at the UW Health University Hospital (part of the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health) until May 2020.[5][6] He later joined Aurora St. Luke's Medical Center in Milwaukee, Wisconsin,[7] before becoming a locum tenens physician.[8]

Kory is an expert in critical care ultrasonography. In 2015, along with his two co-editors, Kory won the British Medical Association's 2015 President’s Choice award in medical textbooks for their work on Point of Care Ultrasound.[4]

COVID-19
Further information: Ivermectin during the COVID-19 pandemic

Early in the COVID-19 pandemic, Kory advocated for using increasing doses of steroids and anticoagulants for hospitalized people with COVID-19, at a time when the general recommendation was merely for supportive care.[6] Kory sees subsequent evidence from the RECOVERY Trial, which showed benefit from lower doses of corticosteroids, as vindicating his approach; medical researcher Kevin J. Tracey has said it is still unknown whether Kory's approach was beneficial or harmful. Kory has used other drugs off-label in his treatment regimens, including famotidine and intravenous vitamin C.[6] Kory gave testimony as a guest of U.S. Senator Ron Johnson at a May 5, 2020, Senate hearing in which he called for use of steroids in COVID-19 patients.[5][7] He resigned from UW Health in May out of frustration of its reluctance to implement such measures.[6][8]

Kory is president and co-founder of the Front Line COVID-19 Critical Care Alliance (FLCCC), a small U.S. organization of physicians and former journalists formed in April 2020 that advocates for ineffective COVID-19 treatments, including ivermectin.[9][1][2][10] The FLCCC falsely states that ivermectin reduces viral load and accelerates recovery in patients, while the World Health Organization, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and European Medicines Agency advise against the use of ivermectin outside of clinical trials.[11][12][13]

On December 8, 2020, Kory was a witness at a Senate hearing called by the US Senate Homeland Security Committee Chair Ron Johnson,[14] which was criticized as promoting fringe ideas about COVID-19.[15] Kory described ivermectin as "miraculous" and as a "wonder drug" to be used against COVID-19. Video footage of his statements went viral on social media, receiving over one million views within a few days.[3] Kory became a leading advocate of the use of ivermectin throughout the pandemic, promoting a conspiracy theory that its true effectiveness was being suppressed by the "Gods of Science" who wanted to monopolize scientific information.[16] Kory resigned from Aurora St Luke's afterwards, claiming new contracts threatened to limit his freedom to speak.[7][8]

In November 2021 the Journal of Intensive Care Medicine retracted a paper written by Kory, Paul E. Marik, and others. The retraction was triggered when it was found the paper misreported the mortality figures of people treated for COVID-19 with the FLCCC's "MATH+" protocol, falsely making it appear to be an effective treatment.[17][18]

In February 2022, the American Journal of Therapeutics issued an expression of concern against a 2021 systematic review of which Kory had been lead author. The notice said there were suspicions about the integrity of the underlying data on which the paper depended to show that ivermectin was a viable treatment for COVID-19.[19][20]

Books
  • Soni, Nilam J; Arntfield, Robert; Kory, Pierre, eds. (2015). Point of Care Ultrasound. Elsevier. ISBN 978-0323544702.

References
  1. Bibi-Aisha Wadvalla (1 April 2021). "Covid-19: Ivermectin's politicisation is a warning sign for doctors". The BMJ: n747. doi:10.1136/BMJ.N747. ISSN 0959-8138. Wikidata Q107968955.
  2. "Fact-checking claim about the use of ivermectin to treat COVID-19". Politifact. April 23, 2021. Retrieved 2021-08-07.
  3. Beatrice Dupuy (11 December 2020). "No evidence ivermectin is a miracle drug against COVID-19" (Fact check). AP News.
  4. "Pierre Kory, MD". St. George's University. Archived from the original on July 20, 2021.
  5. Small, Taurean (6 May 2020). "Senate committee explores COVID-19 recommendations from local expert". Charter Communications. SPECTRUM NEWS.
  6. Susan Dominus (5 August 2020). "The Covid Drug Wars That Pitted Doctor vs. Doctor". New York Times.
  7. Fiore, Kristina (6 January 2021). "What's Behind the Ivermectin-for-COVID Buzz?". MedPage Today, LLC.
  8. McGinley, Laurie (April 8, 2021). "Supporters tout anti-parasite drug as covid-19 treatment, but skeptics call it the 'new hydroxychloroquine'". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2021-08-10.
  9. Hilary Brueck (17 September 2021). "2 fringe doctors created the myth that ivermectin is a 'miracle cure' for COVID-19 — whipping up false hope that could have deadly consequences". Business Insider.
  10. Hayes, Kelly (December 8, 2020). "Doctor pleads for review of data on ivermectin as COVID-19 treatment during Senate hearing". FOX 10 Phoenix.
  11. Breitenbach, Dagmar (January 20, 2021). "Fact check: Effective (and ineffective) COVID-19 treatments". Deutsche Welle.
  12. "EMA advises against use of ivermectin for the prevention or treatment of COVID-19 outside randomised clinical trials" (Press release). European Medicines Agency. 22 March 2021.
  13. "WHO advises that ivermectin only be used to treat COVID-19 within clinical trials". World Health Organisation. March 31, 2021.
  14. Gilbert, Craig (December 8, 2020). "Sen. Ron Johnson holds COVID-19 hearing accusing health officials of ignoring alternative therapies". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Retrieved 2021-08-10.
  15. Qiu, Linda (17 December 2020). "The election is over, but Ron Johnson keeps promoting false claims of fraud". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 18 December 2020.
  16. Gorski DH (21 June 2021). "Ivermectin is the new hydroxychloroquine, take 2". Science-Based Medicine.
  17. Marcus A (10 November 2021). "Bad MATH+? Covid treatment paper by Pierre Kory retracted for flawed results". Retraction Watch.
  18. "Retraction Notice". Journal of Intensive Care Medicine. November 9, 2021. doi:10.1177/08850666211049062.
  19. "Ivermectin papers slapped with expressions of concern". Retraction Watch. 11 February 2022.
  20. Manu P (7 February 2022). "Expression of Concern for Kory P, Meduri GU, Varon J, Iglesias J, Marik PE. Review of the Emerging Evidence Demonstrating the Efficacy of Ivermectin in the Prophylaxis and Treatment of COVID-19. Am J Ther. 2021;28(3) e299–e318". doi:10.1097/MJT.0000000000001481. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
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