The family of a man hospitalized with COVID-19 who lost his wife to the disease is seeking a court order to get the controversial drug ivermectin as a treatment at an Elgin hospital, his attorney said.
A Kane County judge already ruled against the family, preventing 40-year-old mother Maria Abbinanti from getting the drug before her death this week at Amita Health St. Joseph Hospital Elgin, attorney Patrick J. Walsh said.
Her husband, 41-year-old Sebastian Abbinanti, remained hospitalized Thursday. Family members were appealing the court order, and Walsh expected a decision next week.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has not approved ivermectin to treat or prevent COVID-19, and warns against such use. One analysis of 14 studies involving ivermectin found the evidence did not support the use of ivermectin to treat COVID-19, though clinical trials are ongoing.
Ivermectin is approved for human use to treat intestinal infections caused by some parasitic worms, as well as head lice and skin conditions such as rosacea. Different forms of the drug are used to treat animals for heartworm and other parasites.
Maria Abbinanti, the mother of three young children, had not gotten vaccinated against COVID-19, after her doctor raised concerns about how she might react due to allergies, Walsh said.
The couple was hospitalized in late November, and put in the intensive care unit on ventilators, Walsh said.
After other treatments failed, Walsh said, the couple’s doctor, Sergei Lipov, recommended ivermectin. But St. Joseph administrators’ policy prohibited use of the drug for COVID-19 at the hospital.
The family filed suit in Kane County Circuit Court seeking to let Lipov administer the treatment and agreeing to waive liability claims against the hospital. On Dec. 17, Judge Robert Villa agreed with the hospital and ruled against the family.
Family members, friends and community members protested outside the hospital Wednesday, with a mix of sadness and anger, Walsh said.
“This is a legal issue,” Walsh said. “The law says the hospital is not allowed to unreasonably interfere with a doctor’s best judgment on how to treat patients.”
The hospital did not immediately return a request for comment. Walsh expects a ruling on his emergency motion sometime next week.
“The family is beside themselves,” he said. “They have really come together, both sides, working together to try to get through this.”
In a similar case last month, a man on a ventilator who received ivermectin at Edward Hospital in Naperville, after a DuPage County judge allowed it, recovered and was released, according to the law firm that filed the suit.
