Judge orders Cincy-area hospital to treat COVID-19 patient with ivermectin, despite warnings
CINCINNATI (WXIX) - A Butler County judge has ruled in favor of a woman who sued to force a hospital to treat her husband with ivermectin — an anti-parasitic drug that federal regulators have warned against using in COVID-19 patients.
Butler County Common Pleas Judge Gregory Howard ordered West Chester Hospital, part of the UC Health network, to treat Jeffrey Smith, 51, with Ivermectin.
The Aug. 23 decision requires the hospital to allow Dr. Fred Wagshul to administer 30mg of ivermectin daily for three weeks to Smith.
“From the countries that we’ve seen that have emptied their hospitals. This medicine is very very effective,” Dr. Wagshul said.
The judge’s two-page order does not explain the reasoning behind his decision.
Regarding the ruling, UC Health spokesperson Amanda Nageleisen said, “I can’t comment on litigation or answer questions and HIPAA patient privacy laws prevent me from commenting on any specifics of patient care.”
Smith has been in the hospital several weeks fighting the virus, court records show.
His wife, Julie Smith, asked the court Aug. 20 for an emergency order for the use of Ivermectin.
In the complaint, the wife said she began researching COVID-treatment options and came across several articles where COVID-19 patients were given ivermectin. After treatment, she said all of the patients left the hospital and are now home.
“With absolutely nothing to lose, with little to no risk, and with the Defendant likely to begin palliative care, there is no basis for it to refuse Dr. Wagshul’s order and prescription to administer ivermectin. It is respectfully submitted that this court give my husband a fighting chance,” the complaint reads.
Dr. Wagshul is a founding member of Front Line COVID-19 Critical Care Alliance. The FLCCC Alliance is described on its website as a non-profit organization “dedicated to developing highly effective treatment protocols to prevent the transmission of COVID-19 and to improve the outcomes for patients ill with the disease.”
The site also says, “We regard ivermectin as a core medication in the prevention and treatment of COVID-19.”
Ivermectin is not approved by the Food and Drug Administration for use against the coronavirus. The drug is approved for use against some parasitic worms, head lice and some skin conditions.
The FDA says it is doing ‘initial research’ into its effectiveness against COVID-19 and adds taking the drug in large doses is dangerous and can cause serious harm.
Last week, the FDA discouraged the drug from being used to treat patients hospitalized with COVID-19 and from it being used as a preventative measure.
“You are not a horse,” the FDA tweeted on Saturday. “You are not a cow. Seriously, y’all. Stop it.”
Dr. Anthony Fauci of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases has also said people should not take ivermectin because there’s no evidence it works.
Read the complaint below:
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