Raw Milk and Ivermectin: Are the Good Doctors Wrong?

An open letter to a doctor whose valuable insights are being sabotaged

Dear Dr. Pierre Kory,

I listened to your recent interview with Dr. Bret Weinstein on the Dark Horse podcast about the “War on Ivermectin.” I have followed your work, speeches and testimonies for a couple of years now.

Thank you for speaking up. I see your frustration and I believe you. It remains important that the people who know about these things share them.

That’s why I am writing to you.

Before there was a war on ivermectin, there was a war on raw milk. The parallels are uncanny. If you do not already, you should know about the raw milk lies because it is only united that we can make the needed changes that must occur to bring health back to our communities.

Let me explain:

You speak about your experience with ivermectin. You share the history of a drug that cured river blindness, treats parasitic infections and that won the Nobel Prize in medicine. You explain that medical studies have been corrupted. Dr. Kory, I feel your anguish as you describe your realization of what you witnessed and the many other implications leading from that. In fact, you share that the “deepest and most powerful lesson” that you have learned is “the deep rot at the core of medical sciences.”

I am not a doctor. I am a mother of 5 healthy children. Some would say that for the last 20 years I have lived a “fringe” lifestyle.  See, I am a Raw Milk Mama. I give my family raw milk instead of pasteurized. As you have learned all too well these past few years, many mothers are excellent at risk assessment. But it is tough being on the fringe.

Just about everything you said in the podcast about the vilification of ivermectin, is true of unpasteurized milk.

Dr. Kory, like you, I looked into an age-old and safe remedy to help when my oldest child was ill as a baby. Changing our diets from pasteurized milk to raw made a huge difference in our health. Because of this small lifestyle change, I was then ushered into a world of others who chose this small, simple dietary change at great effort and expense to themselves. I then witnessed the healing of hundreds of people simply due to this shift in their diets.

Like you, I couldn't quite believe how hidden this was (FYI, the FDA controls dairy in this country.)

Like you, it was--and remains--difficult being on the “fringe” and defying the scientific “consensus” when it comes to milk. I've learned to embrace it. But it is often lonely. Similar to your story, I’ve met great friends through our shared advocacy.

But do you know how the vilification of raw milk started?

It started with a series of lies. First, there was the terrible lie that cows would be fine if permanently confined in concrete stalls and force-fed the waste from neighboring whisky distilleries. As you can imagine, this led to some pretty vile milk being produced in big city "dairies."

In reaction to that, Nathan Strauss (co-owner of Macy’s and a wealthy philanthropist), subsidized the pasteurization of milk for poor families in New York City.

Eventually, he vilified all raw milk.

In the past few years, you saw courageous doctors stand up and share what they know about ivermectin. In 1893 an exact parallel occurred with milk. A brave group of doctors, led by Doctor Henry Coit, stood up against Strauss’ “philanthropy” (likely political sway) and created the "Medical Milk Commission" to certify farms where raw milk was produced cleanly so they could provide it to their patients.

For years, they certified farms outside the cities that were producing clean raw milk. People thrived.

Apparently, there was too much competition with this safe, perfectly natural and nutrient dense food staple.

So, in the 1950s, an obscure entity (perhaps the DOD, but it is pretty well obfuscated), published a series of lies and propaganda. They made up a story that raw milk in "Crossroads" America killed hundreds of people. It was all fabricated. But the lie worked. And it spread. Mamas were afraid. Many mamas stopped giving their children raw dairy.

Laws were sneakily passed, to “keep people safe,” of course.

The nefarious plan was executed perfectly and the harm was done. Today, just a mere estimated 3% of the American population drinks raw milk. Most of our country is terrified of it. Many don't want to be fringe. Legal barriers remain a block to access. But the biggest obstacle is fear and social shaming. 

Dr. Kory, can you imagine a world a few decades from now where your courageous fight and stand for truth is embraced by only 3% of the population? 

With my deep understanding of the history of raw milk and how that has played out over the past 130 years, my concern is that these new and modern crimes fall into oblivion just as the history of raw milk has.

So much of what you say about ivermectin is true of fresh dairy: it is harmless.

In fact, raw dairy is beyond good for us and provides far better nutrition than pasteurized.

You may not have seen the advocacy for raw milk. Or perhaps you have dismissed it as an anti-scientific fringe. It seems that only about 3% of the population even cares anymore. Has the nefarious plan worked? Furthermore, who would want to speak up in defense of something that seemingly very few people care about these days? It is tough. 

I've got a short story for you. It’s not really mine to tell, but I would be happy to facilitate an introduction to the story owner.

About 10 years ago, a Dr. and professor at a prominent east coast institution wanted to study the benefits of raw milk on allergies in humans. The only way to do this was to get approval for the study from the FDA. The FDA refused. They said it was too dangerous. He then asked to study dangerous, illegal drugs. That was granted, but, as just stated, his proposal to study raw milk was not. 

I could go on and on. I hope this little bit gets you curious about raw milk and the parallels between milk and ivermectin. Could the FDA and pharmaceutical companies stand to gain anything from a population deprived of nutrient dense raw milk, a traditional food that has nourished civilizations for millennia? What happens if people had access to clean, healing foods within their own communities?

What is the end result of the “nefarious plan” other than profit, poor nutrition and chronic disease? The plan’s only obstacle being a quiet, “fringe” movement of mamas who want raw milk. But this issue was not always so obscure. What does the course of history of raw milk say about the issues you care the most about? Will your topic sink into oblivion too?

This is my biggest concern.

Before there was a war on ivermectin, there was a war on raw milk. Good doctors came out in favor of raw milk. They created the Medical Milk Commission. Just like you and the good doctors that are forming coalitions to teach people about ivermectin today. And so because of you we know that ivermectin cures river blindness, won the Nobel prize for its effectiveness against parasites, is an effective early treatment for Covid, and so much more.

Just like ivermectin is effective, raw milk seems to be a preventative for asthma, protects against “seasonal” allergies, is highly probiotic–and thus immune boosting–and so much more. Can I back this up with “scientific” studies from American institutions?

No, because as you so rightly point out, there is “deep rot at the core of medical sciences.” Open, honest scientific studies are simply not allowed. But when we are willing to listen to people, we witness the observable facts, just like you did with ivermectin. Some doctors used raw milk to treat tuberculosis many years ago. European doctors wanted to study how kefir (made from raw milk) brought health and longevity to those who consumed it.

It is not okay that our institutions propagandized against the use of ivermectin to scare people away from even considering it. Likewise, they propagandized against raw milk in order to scare people away from it. The consequences of this propaganda have been dastardly. While doctors are getting their livelihoods destroyed for the mere mention of ivermectin let alone prescribing it, good farmers get their lives destroyed simply for offering raw milk to a wanting consumer base.

The end result is government tyranny against our own farmers. This tyranny is driving farmers off the land and consolidating production into fewer entities. It is choking out the noncompliant. The tyranny against our farmers causes a cascading effect that will drive many of us into food insecurity.

For several years in the early 2000s, our government weaponized the DOJ against raw milk farmers. This is well documented in the film Farmageddon–produced by a good friend of mine. It's not okay that the US government came out viciously against the use of ivermectin as an effective treatment. Nor is it okay that they have policies in place criminalizing raw milk. As you say, these are “policies divorced from science.”

What you saw happen to the good doctors who used ivermectin to effectively treat Covid patients happens every day to our good farmers. The war becomes economic. Many doctors (and patients) will not even consider the use of ivermectin because it jeopardizes their practice, and thus their income, to go “against the grain.” Many good, caring dairy farmers will not consider raw milk an option because the propaganda is too strong against it. Those who do–both doctors and farmers–are taking great risk on themselves and their families unless they can remain relatively invisible.

You and I both know the work of Edward Bernays. We know that propaganda is an effective tool to control human behavior stemming from control, and creation, of information.

Dr. Kory, there are too many parallels to ignore. One wonders “how did we get here?”

There are no easy or short answers to that question but the important thing is to see with clear eyes that your experience is a repeat of history–but CAN have a different conclusion. Right now many people look at raw milk drinkers as a fanatic fringe. We are the “Hippies” or the “California weirdos” or “Granola Moms.” It is so easy to label us. Yet, we are thoughtful, caring citizens. Just like you. We come from a diversity of backgrounds and educational levels. We are amazing at risk assessment, especially when our children’s lives are on the line. And we are warriors, just like you and Bret and the good doctors who were brave enough to treat patients with medications that worked, even when it brought attacks against you.

Throughout most of our history of civilization, raw milk was normal and accepted, even wanted and needed for food security in many parts of the world. It is only because of the ongoing propaganda for years that we have become the ignorable fringe. The Medical Milk Commission is all but forgotten.

You've seen enough yourself to know that this is true. I welcome a conversation. 

Together we always make a greater impact than alone. And it is only together that we will ensure that the next generation picks up the torches that we now carry. 

So I asked you this, Dr. Kory: Can we bind together to create effective change not for one or either of these particular issues but for the larger principle that we preserve our freedom to choose the foods and medicines we need for our bodies?