An Illinois judge has ruled against a woman who sought to force doctors to provide her unvaccinated husband with ivermectin to treat severe COVID-19, after a hospital warned that administering the so-called "horse paste" remedy would turn the man into a "guinea pig."
Sangamon County Circuit Judge Adam Giganti on Monday denied a request for an injunction against Memorial Medical Center from the wife of 61-year-old Randy Clouse, who's been on a ventilator for at least four weeks, according to the State Journal-Register.
It's one of several lawsuits around the country seeking to force doctors to provide ivermectin, which is normally used to treat people and livestock for parasitic worms. Ivermectin is being pushed by COVID-19 anti-vaxxers in online forums as the latest version of the Trumpian drug hydroxychloroquine. With doctors and pharmacists refusing to provide ivermectin to treat COVID-19, some have turned to farm supply stores to obtain the drug, resulting in overdoses and prompting a warning from the FDA.
During a hearing Monday, attorneys for Memorial hospital called ivermectin "unproven and potentially unsafe." They also slammed Dr. Alan Bain, the Chicago-based telemedicine practitioner who testified remotely in favor of Clouse's wife, saying he "chose to ignore widespread medical advice on the use of ivermectin in COVID-19 patients."
"He wants to make Mr. Clouse a guinea pig," William Davis, an attorney for Memorial Medical Center, said of Bain, whom he also accused of failing to adequately review the patient's medical history.
Bain never examined Clouse in person and is not his primary-care doctor. But he told the judge he watched a video of Clouse, adding that he has not personally seen 30 of the 40 patients in Illinois whom he's treated with ivermectin. Bain told the judge "he has seen patients either get better because of ivermectin, or the drug has given 'signals' that it is causing some benefit," the newspaper reported.
"I don't think she could live with herself knowing that not everything was tried," Bain said of Clouse's wife.
Before ruling in favor of the hospital, the judge said he was surprised that Bain was still advocating for ivermectin even after it was revealed that doctors recently found a cyst on Clouse's liver. On Friday, hospital officials wrote in a written response to the lawsuit that Clouse is "presently improving."
"His treating physicians believe administration of ivermectin will likely result in kidney and lung damage, which can lead to organ failure and death," Memorial's response said. "Mr. Clouse already has weakened liver and kidney function (and) ivermectin is more likely to push these organs over the edge."
