A Virginia hospital can’t stand in the way of a family’s preference to be treated for COVID-19 with the drug ivermectin, which is not approved for treating the virus, a judge ruled.
Kathy and Don Davies were rushed to Fauquier Hospital Oct. 9 suffering serious COVID-19 symptoms.
He spent more than a month in the hospital, while she went straight to intensive care and has stayed here.
“It’s been 42 days today that she’s been on the ventilator,” said their son, Chris Davies.
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Don Davies says doctors have been preparing the family for the worst.
“Basically, preparing us for my wife, that she very well might die,” he said.
Chris Davies is an X-ray technician at the hospital. He’d heard about some people finding help in the drug ivermectin, typically used as an anti-parasitic, often for animals. He asked the hospital to try it as a treatment, but the doctors refused.
The family enlisted the help of New York attorney Ralph Lorigo, who has brought some 150 lawsuits around the country to try to help families get ivermectin for hospitalized relatives.
“I’m not saying definitively that I think 100% that ivermectin is going to work, but at the end of day, whether my mom lives or dies, I’ll be able to say we tried everything,” Chris Davies said.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention calls ivermectin an unproven treatment. It sent out an emergency advisory in August after some COVID-19 patients turned to the medication and became seriously ill. The advisory reads in part: “Ivermectin is not currently authorized or approved by FDA for treatment of COVID-19.”
Judge James Fisher sided with the Davies family, ordering the hospital to allow them to have ivermectin given to Kathy Davies or face a $10,000-a-day fine. She got the first dose of Monday night.
“Right now, I have hope,” Don Davies said. “I do.”
The judge’s ruling was first reported by the Fauquier Times.
The hospital said part of the issue involved Davies' doctor not being on their staff. Fauquier Health says they cooperated with the patient’s family and the court to transfer the patient’s care to their preferred physician.
Fauquier Health sent News4 the following statement:
