An appeals judge in Ohio has overruled a lower court judge, ruling that a hospital no longer has to give a COVID-19 patient ivermectin, a ...
An appeals judge in Ohio has overruled a lower court judge, ruling that a hospital no longer has to give a COVID-19 patient ivermectin, a drug that some are using to treat the viral illness.
“While this court is sympathetic to the Plaintiff and understands the idea of wanting to do anything to help her loved one, public policy should not and does not support allowing a physician to try ‘any’ type of treatment on human beings,” Common Pleas Judge Michael Oster said in the court order, according to The Hill.
Julie Smith, the wife of COVID-19 patient Jeffery Smith, sued West Chester Hospital when the hospital refused to treat her husband with ivermectin, which was prescribed to him by a doctor.
“The drug was prescribed by Fred Wagshul, who is a licensed physician but not board-certified, for 21 days. It was prescribed to Smith without reviewing his medical history, according to court testimony, WBNS reported,” said the Hill.
While Butler County Common Pleas Judge Gregory Howard ruled in favor of Julie Smith in August, the hospital appealed the decision, citing the Federal Drug Administration’s warning against using ivermectin to treat COVID-19.
Ralph Lorigo, an attorney representing Julie Smith, said there will be no appeal as Jeffrey Smith had already received 13 days’ worth of doses. The hospital also said it will be taking him off the ventilator soon.
“Julie has won this case; I don’t care what this judge says,” Lorigo said. “We are believers he’s going to survive because of ivermectin.”
But Smith’s physician, Daniel Tanase, said in court that it wasn’t ivermectin “that helped his patient and said there isn’t enough evidence to be using ivermectin to fight COVID-19,” wrote the Hill.
Ivermectin is a drug used to treat people who suffer from parasites like lice, scabies and roundworm. Some 100,000 people were prescribed the medicine in 2020, according to Townhall.
Two doctors won the Nobel prize for pioneering work with Ivermectin against parasites in humans, particularly those in areas where water-borne parasites are common.
“William C. Campbell, an expert in parasite biology working in the USA, acquired Omura’s Streptomyces cultures and explored their efficacy. Campbell showed that a component from one of the cultures was remarkably efficient against parasites in domestic and farm animals. The bioactive agent was purified and named Avermectin, which was subsequently chemically modified to a more effective compound called Ivermectin. Ivermectin was later tested in humans with parasitic infections and effectively killed parasite larvae. Collectively, Omura and Campbell’s contributions led to the discovery of a new class of drugs with extraordinary efficacy against parasitic diseases,” according to NobelPrize.org.
“The discoveries of Avermectin and Artemisinin have fundamentally changed the treatment of parasitic diseases,” the site notes. “Today the Avermectin-derivative Ivermectin is used in all parts of the world that are plagued by parasitic diseases. Ivermectin is highly effective against a range of parasites, has limited side effects and is freely available across the globe. The importance of Ivermectin for improving the health and wellbeing of millions of individuals with River Blindness and Lymphatic Filariasis, primarily in the poorest regions of the world, is immeasurable. Treatment is so successful that these diseases are on the verge of eradication, which would be a major feat in the medical history of humankind.”
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