COVINGTON, La. — St. Tammany Health System is fighting against a court order to treat a critically ill COVID-19 patient with ivermectin, according to a report from The Times-Picayune | The New Orleans Advocate.
If the August court order is left standing then it leaves the door open for others to force hospitals into administering unapproved drugs for life-threatening illnesses, the newspaper said.
A resident of Abita Springs, Charlotte Ratley, 64, died at St. Tammany Parish Hospital on Aug. 21, less than a day after a 22nd Judicial District judge ordered the hospital to either give her the horse deworming treatment or allow her daughter, a licensed physician assistant to do so.
The health system refused to treat her with the drug, an anti-parasitic used mainly for livestock and not approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for treating COVID in human beings.
"To the best of our knowledge, this is the first ivermectin case in Louisiana," the hospital told the paper. "However, Louisiana hospitals and hospitals all over this country face the threat of an escalation of litigation forcing hospitals and physicians to administer ivermectin, and other unsafe and unapproved medications, to patients unless courts stop this threat by ruling against these well-intentioned litigants."
The health system is asking the court to nullify the order issued in August.
The FDA published a FAQ about COVID-19 and ivermectin intended for animals
You can find that information here: https://www.fda.gov/animal-veterinary/product-safety-information/faq-covid-19-and-ivermectin-intended-animals
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