Judge orders hospital to treat COVID-19 patient with ivermectin, despite warnings

CINCINNATI (WXIX/Gray News) – A judge in Ohio has ordered a hospital to use ivermectin to treat a man for COVID-19, despite warnings from federal regulators.

WXIX reports Judge Gregory Howard ordered West Chester Hospital to treat Jeffrey Smith, 51, with the anti-parasitic drug after his wife sued to force the hospital to use the treatment.

The judge’s ruling requires the hospital to allow Dr. Fred Wagshul to administer 30 mg of ivermectin to Smith every day for three weeks. But the two-page order does not explain the reasoning behind his decision.

“I can’t comment on litigation or answer questions, and HIPAA patient privacy laws prevent me from commenting on any specifics of patient care,” said UC Health spokesperson Amanda Nageleisen of the ruling.

Court records show Smith has been in the hospital for several weeks fighting the virus, and his wife asked for an emergency order for the use of the drug.

In the complaint, the wife said she began researching COVID-treatment options and came across several articles where COVID-19 patients were given ivermectin. After treatment, she claims all of the patients left the hospital and are now home.

“With absolutely nothing to lose, with little to no risk, and with the defendant likely to begin palliative care, there is no basis for it to refuse Dr. Wagshul’s order and prescription to administer ivermectin. It is respectfully submitted that this court give my husband a fighting chance,” the complaint reads.

Wagshul is a founding member of Front Line COVID-19 Critical Care Alliance.

The FLCCC Alliance is described on its website as a nonprofit organization “dedicated to developing highly effective treatment protocols to prevent the transmission of COVID-19 and to improve the outcomes for patients ill with the disease.”

Last week, the Food and Drug Administration discouraged the drug from being used to treat patients hospitalized with COVID-19 and from it being used as a preventative measure.

It is approved at specific doses for treating some parasitic worms, but it is not an anti-viral drug, the FDA said on its website. Other forms of ivermectin are used in animals to prevent heartworm disease and certain parasites, and people were warned never to use medications intended for animals on themselves.

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