Mel Gibson's wild claim ivermectin curbs cancer leads to significant spike in prescriptions

Mel Gibson's endorsement of ivermectin as a medication that curbs cancer has coincided with a significant spike in use.

The Oscar winner, 70, appearing on The Joe Rogan Experience on January 9, 2025, said that the medication saved the lives of three friends diagnosed with stage four cancer.

Gibson, whose credits include Lethal Weapon, Braveheart and The Passion of the Christ, explained the situation to Rogan: 'There's got to be something that cures things and I'll tell you a good story.' 

'I have three friends, all three of them at stage four cancer. All three of them don't have cancer right now at all and they had some serious stuff going on.'

Rogan asked Gibson, 'What did they take?' to which Gibson said 'they took some - what you've heard they've taken.' 

Gibson then confirmed Rogan's speculation he was talking about ivermectin. 

The Daily Mail has reached out to representatives for Gibson for further comment on the story. 

The American Medical Association reported in JAMA that cancer patients among a sample of 68 million-plus people had used ivermectin and benzimidazole at a growth rate of 160 percent between 2024 and 2025.

The spike in use comes as medical professionals have said that there is no evidence to suggest that ivermectin - marketed as a treatment to fight parasites - is an effective remedy against cancer.

'It has not been proven in any kind of confirmatory clinical trial, which is the gold standard of evidence we need to know whether treatment works,' Dr. John Mafi, with UCLA's David Geffen School of Medicine, said in an interview with ABC News Wednesday.

Researchers continue to study how effective ivermectin is in the treatment of cancer.

It comes years after a number of people took ivermectin amid the COVID-19 pandemic as an alternative to vaccinations.

The demographics most impacted in JAMA's report were 'male patients, White patients, residents of the US South, and individuals with cancer.'

The report stated that the aforementioned groups had 'disproportionate increases' in prescriptions being filled for ivermectin.

Mafi previously said of the trend: 'As a primary care doctor, I want my patients and people across the country to have the chance to get treatments we know can help them live longer, healthier lives.

'When prescribing for an unproven cancer treatment more than doubles after a single podcast, especially among men and people in the South, it raises a concern that patients may be skipping or delaying treatments we know work in favor of something that hasn't been proven to help them.'

NHL alum Ron Duguay, 68, told the network that he was consuming ivermectin as a supplement to his treatment amid a battle with stage 4 cancer.

'In certain circumstances, I will fight until I drop,' Duguay said. 'And when I drop, I'm getting up. As an athlete, I'm going for it - I will take a chance.'

The JAMA report stated that 'the elevated prescribing observed among patients with cancer is particularly concerning; individuals facing life-threatening illness may delay or forgo conventional treatments in favor of unproven therapies, potentially allowing their disease to progress.'