Man Dies from Covid After His Wife Won a Legal Battle to Treat Him With Ivermectin
Screenshot, WHTM ABC27
A Pennsylvania man whose wife won a legal battle to treat him with the controversial drug ivermectin has died from Covid-19 after a doctor administered it to him twice last week.
Darla Smith sued after the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center refused to treat her husband Keith Smith with the drug which is commonly used as an anti-parasitic. The woman equated the fight to use ivermectin, which has not been proven as an effective treatment against Covid-19, to a “Hail Mary” after other therapeutics had failed.
The York Daily Record reported Keith Smith was diagnosed with Covid-19 on Nov. 10 and was put on a ventilator on Nov. 21. When his condition failed to improve, Darla Smith asked a judge to issue a decision to allow her try the drug, and he obliged her.
Reporter Mike Argento with the York Daily Record reported:
York County Court Judge Clyde Vedder’s Dec. 3 decision did not compel the hospital to treat Keith with the drug, but it did allow Darla to have an independent physician administer it. He received two doses before Keith’s condition grew worse, and the doctor halted the treatment.
He received his first dose on Dec. 5, two days after Vedder’s decision in the court case. After Keith received a second dose, the doctor overseeing the drug’s administration – a physician not affiliated with UPMC – ended the treatment as Keith’s condition deteriorated.
Darla Smith confirmed that her husband died on Sunday surrounded by family. It was not clear if he had been vaccinated, or if he suffered from any underlying health conditions. Keith Smith was 52.
Ivermectin has been used as a treatment for Covid-19, but has not proven effective when combating the virus. The drug is often associated with livestock, but is also prescribed to humans with skin conditions such as rosacea and is sometimes given to people who are fighting infections caused by parasitic worms, the Food and Drug Administration reports.
Popular podcaster Joe Rogan sparked a media firestorm in September when reported he was using the drug after he tested positive for Covid-19.
