Kentucky hospital doesn't have to give patient ivermectin, judge rules

A Kentucky hospital is not required to administer ivermectin to a patient despite a lawsuit from the patient's wife demanding the hospital do so, a judge ruled Sept. 15, according to The Washington Post

Angela Underwood sued Norton Brownsboro Hospital in Louisville Sept. 9 after the hospital allegedly refused to give the anti-parasite drug to her husband, Lonnie Underwood. Mr. Underwood has been in the hospital's intensive care unit with COVID-19 since Sept. 6, the Post reported. 

"As a registered nurse, I demand my husband be administered ivermectin whether by a Norton physician or another healthcare provider of my choosing, including myself if necessary," Ms. Underwood wrote in the complaint, asking the court to designate ivermectin as "medically indicated," according to the Post

Jefferson Circuit Judge Charles Cunninham wrote in his Sept. 15 ruling: "If plaintiff wants to ask the court to impose her definition of 'medically indicated' rather than the hospital's, she needs to present the sworn testimony of solid witnesses, espousing solid opinions, based on solid data."

He said the court "cannot require a hospital to literally take orders from someone who does not routinely issue such orders." 

Neither Ms. Underwood nor her attorney immediately responded to the Post's requests for comment. 

Maggie Roetker, a spokesperson for the hospital, told the Post that the hospital was referring questions about the case to documents filed in court "out of respect for the family." 

In a similar case, an Ohio judge ruled Sept. 6 that a hospital in the state didn't have to use ivermectin to treat COVID-19, reversing an earlier court order from a different judge requiring the hospital to administer the drug. 

Ivermectin, which is most often used to treat parasitic worms in animals, has grown in popularity as a COVID-19 treatment despite the FDA and CDC warning against its use. In mid-August, prescriptions for ivermectin climbed to more than  88,000 per week, up from a pre-pandemic average of 3,600 per week, according to CDC data. 

Three prominent medical groups — the American Medical Association, American Pharmacists Association and American Society of Health-System Pharmacists — on Sept. 1 voiced their opposition to the ordering, prescribing and dispensing of ivermectin to treat COVID-19 outside of clinical trials.

Read the Post's full article here

 

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