Husband of wife who sued to demand ivermectin treatment has died of Covid-19

Jeffrey Smith, the Covid-19 patient whose wife sued to treat him with the horse medicine ivermectin , has died after a long battle with the virus.

According to multiple reports, Mr Smith died in an intensive care unit on 25 September. Mr Smith had been diagnosed with Covid-19 on 9 July, and was hospitalized six days later. In August, he was put on a ventilator.

As Mr Smith’s condition worsened, his wife, Julie Smith, grew increasingly desperate to save him. At some point, Ms Smith says she read news articles about other Covid patients’ miraculous recovery thanks to the drug ivermectin.

Ivermectin is an anti-parasite medication for animals such as horses and cows. Medical experts have repeatedly warned it is not a treatment for Covid-19, despite rumours to the contrary; it can be extremely dangerous to humans if not used exactly as prescribed.

But Ms Smith believed the medicine could cure her husband, and managed to get a prescription for it from a doctor in Centerville, Ohio . However, Mr Smith’s hospital, UC Health West Chester, refused to administer it.

Ms Smith sued the hospital. Initially, she won the injunction she sought, but a second judge later overruled it.

“After considering all of the evidence presented in this case, there can be no doubt that the medical and scientific communities do not support the use of ivermectin as a treatment for COVID-19,” Judge Michael Oster wrote on 6 September.

The judge added that he understood the emotional nature of the case.

“It is impossible not to feel sympathetic to the Plaintiff in the case at bar,” Judge Oster wrote. “The Plaintiff wants her husband to get better.”

An obituary for Mr Smith says he was an engineer at Verizon Wireless and the father of three children. He is survived by his wife, Julie; his three children, Abigail, Ethan, and Isabella; his parents, Betty and Richard; and numerous other family members.

In a GoFundMe , Mr Smith’s family appeared to blame UC Health West Chester for his death.

“Unfortunately, after a long hard fought battle, Jeff has passed away from complications, due to his hospital care,” the family wrote.