Its effectiveness against the virus has still not been proven. An American hospital was forced by justice to deliver to a Covid-19 patient ivermectin, a pest control popular in some circles.
The decision of an Ohio judge last week is part of a series of judgments favorable to relatives of patients against hospitals reluctant to use the product which has been the subject of warnings from health authorities.
In this case, Julie Smith, a resident of the suburbs of Cincinnati, had obtained that a doctor prescribe ivermectin to her husband Jeffrey, hospitalized in intensive care. Faced with the hospital’s refusal to deliver this product, she seized justice on August 20 with the help of a lawyer who won comparable claims in New York and Chicago. Judge Gregory Howard ordered the hospital to comply with the order: either to administer 30 mg of ivermectin per day for three weeks to his patient.
Inconclusive results
Ivermectin is a drug widely used by veterinarians, but which also has human use against parasites, such as scabies and lice. Since the start of the health crisis, studies have been conducted to see if this inexpensive drug could help fight Covid-19. Despite encouraging initial laboratory studies, the tests carried out at this stage are inconclusive.
The World Health Organization (WHO) and European and American health authorities advise against its use against Covid, which does not prevent a craze in certain segments of the population. In the United States, conservatives close to former President Donald Trump, such as Fox News presenters Laura Ingraham and Sean Hannity, or Senator Ron Johnson promoted it.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) noted on Thursday an increase in sales of the drug, which was the subject of 3,600 prescriptions per week before the pandemic and 88,000 in August. But the CDC has also noted an increase in “side effects from misuse or abuse. ivermectin overdoses, measured by an increase in calls to poison control centers “.
The drug agency, the FDA has warned of the dangers of overdosing or using the veterinary form of the drug. “You are not a horse. You are not a cow. Seriously, stop”, she wrote on Twitter.
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