By TESS LAWRIE MBBCh, PhD
MY condolences to Professor Thomas Borody’s family on his recent passing. I was very grateful for the gravitas that Prof. Borody’s academic and clinical experience brought to the fight to get ivermectin approved for COVID-19 in 2021-3. His contribution to the worldwide battle against COVID-19 disinformation will not be forgotten. Wishing you a safe crossing, Thomas.
I have been aware for some time that my friend and colleague Thomas Borody was seriously ill suffering from Guillaine-Barre syndrome. A post on X last night alerted me to his passing.
Tom first became aware of me as a person with expertise in drug regulatory affairs following my publications in Quadrant magazine which was the only publication at the time (note: Cairns News publicised his work) which permitted any public questioning of pandemic policy, COVID-19 management and the potential use of ivermectin in the pandemic.
Both Prof. Robert Clancy and myself took advantage of this publication to try and alert the public to the disinformation and misinformation which was being promulgated by the Australian and other governments, politicians and so-called “medical experts”.
These initial papers were followed by publication in other fearless journals including Spectator Australia, Brownstone Institute and Trial Site News.
Despite ill-informed and widespread criticism from his colleagues and the medical profession as a whole, Tom frequently appeared on TV media interviews trying to get the message out about his first-hand experience regarding the usefulness of ivermectin in the treatment of COVID-19.
Tom began to gather around him a group of advisors which included Robert Clancy and myself to try and gain approval for the use of ivermectin in the treatment of COVID-19 at a time when the official government advice was, if you got COVID-19, do nothing, go home, isolate and if you got really sick get admitted to hospital.
The government claimed there was no treatment available…..Tom disagreed and as we all now know…..he was right.I got to know Tom fairly well. In many ways, we were opposites. He was highly intuitive, brave, impulsive and enjoyed thinking out of accepted paradigms….that was his rare strength.
As a gastroenterologist, his credentials were impeccable: MD, PhD and DSc and he headed the biggest gastro clinic in Australia located at Fivedock in Sydney.
Many believe his should have shared a Nobel Prize for his pioneering work in uncovering the cause of gastric ulcer along with Dr. Barry Marshall and Dr. Robin Warren and in developing triple antibiotic therapy for the underlying H. pylori infection causing gastric ulcers.
Tom also developed treatments for Crohn’s disease. He became world famous for his faecal transplant therapy. I tried many times to call Tom to introduce myself as I knew I could assist him in his attempts to gain approval and use of the novel combination ivermectin, zinc and doxycycline in the management of COVID-19.
I could not get past his personal assistant but through another contact involved with the Australian Medical Professional Association who knew both Tom and myself, one day out of the blue I got a phone call from the famous Professor Thomas Borody.
We hit it off immediately and he asked if I would be prepared to advise him on how to deal with the Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) to gain regulatory approval for his ivermectin triple therapy.
Of course, I jumped at the chance to work with Tom. How could I resist? It was both highly rewarding and frustrating working with Tom. In my usual way, I would analyse scientific issues in great detail and present lengthy reports and advice to Tom on regulatory strategy but I got the impression no matter what I said, he knew where he wanted to go.
My job was to make it happen. I worked for Tom for many, many months pro bono as I knew he could save lives. I advised and assisted Tom and the rest of his team on the compilation of a TGA submission for his chosen ivermectin triple therapy and even went so far as having a pre-submission meeting with senior TGA staff including Assoc. Prof. John Skerritt who was head of the TGA at the time.
I knew it was going to be a daunting job to get the TGA to approve ivermectin for COVID-19. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) declared ivermectin a toxic horse medicine despite its widespread use for many years for the treatment of parasites and being declared an Essential Medicine by the World Health Organisation (WHO) with its discoverers being awarded the Nobel Prize.
“Medical experts” in Australia followed suit and demonised anyone suggesting the usefulness of ivermectin. Doctors were suspended from practice from prescribing ivermectin for COVID-19, medical licences were taken away and in Queensland it was actually a criminal offense attracting jail time for prescribing ivermectin.
But this did not thwart Tom from proceeding. Having worked with the TGA over several decades representing more than half of the international pharmaceutical companies in Australia and gaining the approval of many new drugs, I knew that the TGA had highly competent staff capable of diligently assessing scientific and clinical data provided to it and reaching supportable and justifiable conclusions.
But the TGA I once knew was no longer.It became more and more apparent to me as time went on that the TGA was not going to be helpful in this case and it was going to be an uphill battle to get any ivermectin therapeutic approved despite any safety and efficacy evidence….
Tom tried his best to save lives. He gave it everything he had. That was the nature of the man. He was a fighter. I am proud to have been able to work with such a talented scientist/clinician. He will be missed by many. Farewell my friend.
The following articles appeared in these journals and provide valuable, still relevant background on Prof. Borody’s work:
Altman, P.: The Who, How and Why of COVID-19. Quadrant Magazine, 25 July 2021. https://quadrant.org.au/opinion/qed/2021/07/the-who-how-and-why-of-covid-19-and-its-treatment/
Altman, P.: A Total Lack of Therapeutic Perspective. Quadrant Online. 22 Aug. 2021. https://quadrant.org.au/opinion/public-health/2021/08/a-total-lack-of-therapeutic-perspective/
Altman, P.: Ivermectin: Chemists Place Themselves Between Doctor and Patient. Quadrant Online. 31 Aug. 2021. https://quadrant.org.au/opinion/public-health/2021/08/ivermectin-chemists-place-themselves-between-doctor-and-patient/
Altman, P.: Covid confusion: reckless and illogical governments. The Spectator Australia, 6 Dec. 2022. https://www.spectator.com.au/2022/12/covid-confusion-reckless-and-illogical-governments/
Altman, P. et al: did National Security Imperatives Compromise COVID-19 Vaccine Safety? Trial Site News (Trialsitenews.com) – Dec. 19 2022. https://www.trialsitenews.com/a/did-national-security-imperatives-compromise-covid-19-vaccine-safety-adfea242
Altman, P. et al: did National Security Imperatives Compromise COVID-19 Vaccine Safety? Brownstone Institute – Jan. 5 2023. https://brownstone.org/articles/did-national-security-imperatives-compromise-covid-19-vaccine-safety/
