HAMILTON, Ohio - An Ohio court has ordered a local hospital to treat a COVID-19 ICU patient with an anti-parasitic drug, despite warnings from the U.S.
Food and Drug Administration saying the drug has not been authorized to treat COVID-19.Judge Gregory Howard of the Butler County Common Pleas Court ordered West Chester Hospital to prescribe 51-year-old Jeffery Smith 30mg of ivermectin for 21 days while he is on a ventilator.
According to court documents, Smith tested positive for COVID-19 on July 9. Days later, he was admitted into the hospital’s ICU unit after his oxygen saturation level dropped "dangerously low."Doctors treated him with remdesivir— an antiviral drug— as well as plasma and steroids, according to court papers.