CORONAVIRUS

Push to make hospital give COVID patient ivermectin stalls; woman 'getting worse by the hour'

Tamara Drock's husband wants Palm Beach Gardens Medical Center to give her the anti parasite drug. Doctors say it isn't approved for COVID-19 cases.

Jane Musgrave
Palm Beach Post

While his wife continues to cling to life at Palm Beach Gardens Medical Center, Ryan Drock’s quest to force the hospital to give her an unproven drug to combat COVID-19 has stalled.

Two weeks after Palm Beach County Circuit Judge James Nutt rejected Drock’s initial lawsuit and ordered attorneys to hash out some path forward, no additional court papers have been filed.

Drock, who said his wife’s condition is deteriorating, voiced frustration over the delays.

“Any time now, she’s going to pass and they still won’t give it to her,” the Loxahatchee man said of the hospital’s refusal to let her receive the drug ivermectin.

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Ryan and Tamara Drock both have contracted the coronavirus and COVID-19, the respiratory ailment it causes. Ryan recovered but Tamara is at Palm Beach Gardens Medical Center, where Ryan wants a judge to order the hospital to give her the drug Ivermectin, which he says helped him recover. Doctors note it hasn't been found effective against COVID-19.

Parasite drug ivermectin isn't approved to treat COVID-19

The drug, approved for use to fight parasites, has been embraced by many conservative groups as a silver bullet to combat the life-threatening effects of the coronavirus.

But it isn’t approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat COVID-19. The federal agency says it hasn’t proven effective in preclinical trials.

Some medical centers, including Bethesda Hospital East in Boynton Beach, have settled similar lawsuits by finding a staff physician willing to administer the drug.

While a doctor at Palm Beach Gardens Medical Center agreed to give Tamara Drock ivermectin, Huxtable said he objected to the low dosage that was suggested and the agreement fell apart.

“She’s just getting worse by the hour,” Ryan Drock said of his 47-year-old wife, a teacher at Egret Lake Elementary School in West Palm Beach who didn't get a COVID-19 vaccine. “Her ventilator is on the highest setting possible.”

Dr. Larry Bush, an infectious disease specialist and a former president of the Palm Beach County Medical Society, has said that even approved drugs only work in the initial phases of infection. 

Often, weeks after patients no longer test positive for the virus, they continue to battle the damage it has wreaked on their lungs and other vital organs, he said. 

Patients who are still struggling are given other drugs, such as anti-inflammatory medications, to help them fight the ongoing effects of the disease, he said. 

Drock’s attorney, Jake Huxtable, didn’t respond to messages about why the case against Palm Beach Gardens Medical Center hasn't moved forward. Tampa attorney Isaac Ramon Ruiz-Carus, who represents the hospital that is owned by Tenet Healthcare, also couldn’t be reached.

Tamara Drock is a COVID-19 patient at Palm Beach Gardens Medical Center, seen here on a ventilator. Her husband, Ryan, says Ivermectin cured his bout of COVID and wants a judge to order the hospital to provide it to his wife, over the objections of doctors.

Woman's condition worsens since she was hospitalized Aug. 23 

Nutt ruled that Huxtable used the wrong legal vehicle to petition him to force the hospital to administer ivermectin to Tamara Drock. But, he said, “given the gravity and the urgency of this case,” he would allow Huxtable to amend his lawsuit.

In his last ruling on Oct. 19, Nutt asked Huxtable and Ruiz-Carus to meet to try and figure out a way to resolve the case.

“A joint report of the parties' conference is requested forthwith," Nutt wrote. No report has been filed.

Ryan Drock said Huxtable told him he hopes to meet with Ruiz-Carus on Friday. He said he is hoping it’s not too late.

His wife has been hospitalized with COVID-19 since Aug. 23. Her condition worsened in late September and she was placed on a ventilator against her husband’s wishes, according to the lawsuit.

Drock said he became a believer in ivermectin because he took the medication and recovered from COVID-19. His wife didn’t and she got worse. He said she had no underlying conditions that would make her more likely to suffer serious consequences from the disease.

“Everyday she doesn’t get it, she just gets worse,” he said.

A gofundme.com webpage has been set up to defray her medical expenses. So far, $6,155 has been raised. 

jmusgrave@pbpost.com