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A 68-year-old woman with COVID-19, who has been in intensive care for a month in an Illinois hospital, began receiving the controversial drug ivermectin (Stromectol) this week after his family sued the hospital for someone to administer it, according to a report published in Chicago Tribune.
Nurije Fype’s daughter, Desareta, filed a lawsuit against Elmhurst Hospital, part of Edward-Elmhurst Health, asking her mother to receive the treatment, which is approved as an antiparasitic drug, but is not approved for the treatment of COVID-19. Desareta Fype received temporary guardianship from her mother.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has done just that warned against the use of ivermectin for the treatment of COVID-19, but a group of high-profile doctors does spoken passionately in her favor.
The FDA has published in its guide why Ivermectin should not be used to treat or prevent COVID-19 website. The National Institutes of Health said there is not enough data to recommend either for or against its use in the treatment of COVID-19.
On Friday, DuPage County Judge James Orel ruled that Fype should be allowed to receive treatment.
Three days later, according to the Daily Herald, the hospital’s attorney, Joseph Monahan, argued that the hospital could not find a doctor affiliated with the hospital to administer ivermectin.
He Herald reported that the judge told the hospital to “get out of the way” and allow any board-certified doctor to administer the drug.
When the Fype doctor was unable to administer it, the legal team found another doctor, Alan Bain, DO, who did. Monahan said Bain was given credentials to work at the hospital so he could administer them on Monday evening.
At a follow-up hearing on Tuesday, Monahan told Orel that the hospital asked 20 more doctors and 19 health workers, including nurses and pharmacists, to administer the medication and all of them refused. Herald reported.
Orel rejected a request from Desareta Fype’s lawyer to order the hospital nurses to administer additional doses. The judge also denied the hospital’s request for arrest for judicial contempt.
According to the Herald, the judge said at the hearing on Tuesday: “Now we hope the good Lord will allow the medication to work.”
The hospital did not respond to Medscape’s request to comment on the legal case or the patient’s condition at the time of publication.
In accordance with NBC5 ChicagoDesareta said on Tuesday: “They look calm, comfortable and I’m happy with their monitor numbers so far. They’re a bit stable.”
Fype’s daughter said her mother has been a patient at Elmhurst Hospital since April 7, she was put on a ventilator on April 28 and is now in a coma.
According to the Daily Herald, Desareta Fype declared in court documents who is willing to release the hospital from liability if the drug harms her mother.
He Daily Herald also reports that Fype ‘s lawyers cited arguments from the Front Line COVID Critical Care Alliance that ivermectin has antiviral and anti-inflammatory benefits that help people infected with COVID-19.
Ivermectin is an anthelmintic that is mainly used to treat roundworms, threadworms and other parasites.
Marcia Frellick is a Chicago-based freelance journalist. She has previously written for the Chicago Tribune, Science News and Nurse.com and was editor of the Chicago Sun-Times, the Cincinnati Enquirer and the St. Cloud (Minnesota) Times. Follow her on Twitter at @mfrellick
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