A 52-year-old American died last Sunday (12), victim of Covid-19 after his wife filed for the right to treat him with ivermectin, an ineffective drug for the disease that does not have FDA (Food and Drug Administration) approval ), an agency equivalent to Anvisa in the United States, for the treatment of coronavirus infection.
According to the American press, Keith Smith, an engineer who lived in York, Pennsylvania, was diagnosed with Covid on November 10, spent three weeks in hospital and had been intubated since November 21.
It was his wife, Darla Smith, to whom he had been married for 24 years, who went to court to force the hospital to treat her husband with ivermectin, a medicine used to treat lice and scabies, among others. Even without efficacy, the drug was widely used around the world and even prescribed by doctors without restriction in Brazil.
The idea of ​​going to court, according to the York Daily Record, arose Darla after reading about similar cases in the county court, all with the help of the same lawyer, who lives in Buffalo, in the state of New York. To file the lawsuit, she had help from a group that advocates for the use of the drug, suggests addresses where to buy the drug, provides videos and tutorials for application, and even has a store that sells clothing and accessories with praise for ivermectin and criticism of what calls it censorship.
On Jan. 3, a judge in York decided not to force the hospital to treat the drug, but allowed Darla to seek an independent doctor to administer the drug. Keith received two doses of ivermectin, the first on Jan. 5, two days after the decision.
The patient’s health condition, however, worsened, and treatment was suspended, until he died on Sunday. It is not known whether he was vaccinated against Covid-19. Darla had written, according to the York Daily Record, that she wasn’t sure the drug would be effective, but that she wanted to try it anyway.
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