Suits seek ivermectin for patients

New York, October 16

Mask rules, vaccination mandates and business shutdowns have all landed in the courts during the Covid-19 outbreak, confronting judges with questions of science and government authority. Now they are increasingly being asked to weigh in on the deworming drug ivermectin.

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At least two dozen lawsuits have been filed in recent weeks by people seeking to force hospitals to give their Covid-stricken loved ones ivermectin, a drug for parasites that has been promoted by conservative commentators as a treatment despite a lack of conclusive evidence that it helps people with the virus.

Interest in the drug started rising towards the end of last year when studies — some later withdrawn, in other countries — seemed to suggest ivermectin had some potential. The lawsuits, several of them filed by the same western New York lawyer, cover similar ground. The families have gotten prescriptions for ivermectin, but hospitals have refused to use it on their loved ones, who are often on the ventilator and facing death. — AP