Judge Orders Hospital to Give Ivermectin to Covid-19 Patient Despite Warnings from Public Health Officials

Despite warnings from public health officials, some conservative pundits in recent weeks have been suggesting that ivermectin can be an effective drug to treat Covid-19. It may be no coincidence that an increasing number of Americans are asking their doctors to prescribe them the drug for the virus. In some cases, people are even buying horse dewormer at feed stores for their own use, despite the dangers of eating the livestock medicine.

On Monday, a judge in Butler County, Ohio ordered a hospital to administer ivermectin to patient Jeffrey Smith, 51. He has been in West Chester Hospital since July and is currently on a ventilator. His wife obtained an ivermectin prescription for him from a local doctor named Fred Wagshul. However, the hospital refused to administer the drug, which has yet to be shown to be an effective treatment for Covid-19.

In his ruling, Judge Gregory Howard ordered the hospital to adhere to the prescription, saying staff “shall immediately administer ivermectin” to Smith.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved the drug for use in patients with certain parasitic infections, such as worms and head lice. Ivermectin is not approved to treat viruses, however. One study had indicated the drug might be effective in treating Covid-19, but the paper was retracted after it was found to have likely contained fabricated data. Part of it also appeared to have been plagiarized.

Those who have not been able to obtain prescriptions for ivermectin from doctors are turning to various brands of livestock deworming medication which contain the drug. Moreover, ivermectin-related calls to poison control hotlines around the country have spiked dramatically.

Watch above via WCPO Cincinnati.