BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) — A woman is suing Adventist Health to force doctors to give ivermectin to her husband, who is in the intensive care unit with COVID-19.

Marcia Renee Howard says in the lawsuit that all other options have been exhausted and the hospital is refusing to give the drug to her husband, Wesley Dean Howard. The suit says the 66-year-old is in the intensive care unit and breathing with the assistance of a ventilator.

“Wesley is literally on death’s doorstep and there is no further COVID-19 treatment protocols for (Adventist) to administer to him and Marcia does not want to see her husband die, and she is doing everything she can to give him a chance to survive,” says the suit filed by attorney Nathan Hodges. He could not immediately be reached Thursday evening.

Wesley Howard was admitted to the hospital Aug. 23 and treated with a variety of medications, but his condition didn’t approve, according to the suit.

It says an infectious disease doctor at the hospital researched ivermectin on Sept. 6 and 7 and wrote prescriptions for the drug. The hospital refused to fill them, according to the suit, and its chief medical officer told Marcia Howard the drug was not within hospital protocols.

According to the American Journal of Theraputics:

Ivermectin is a well-known medicine that is approved as an antiparasitic by the World Health Organization and the US Food and Drug Administration. It is widely used in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) to treat worm infections. Also used for the treatment of scabies and lice, it is one of the World Health Organization’s Essential Medicines. With total doses of ivermectin distributed apparently equaling one-third of the present world population, ivermectin at the usual doses (0.2–0.4 mg/kg) is considered extremely safe for use in humans. In addition to its antiparasitic activity, it has been noted to have antiviral and anti-inflammatory properties, leading to an increasing list of therapeutic indications.

Since the start of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, both observational and randomized studies have evaluated ivermectin as a treatment for, and as prophylaxis against, COVID-19 infection. A review by the Front Line COVID-19 Critical Care Alliance summarized findings from 27 studies on the effects of ivermectin for the prevention and treatment of COVID-19 infection, concluding that ivermectin “demonstrates a strong signal of therapeutic efficacy” against COVID-19. Another recent review found that ivermectin reduced deaths by 75%. Despite these findings, the National Institutes of Health in the United States recently stated that “there are insufficient data to recommend either for or against the use of ivermectin for the treatment of COVID-19,” and the World Health Organization recommends against its use outside of clinical trials.

Wesley Howard’s condition has continued to deteriorate, according to the suit,

“Currently, the hospital’s course of treatment is to continue Wesley on antibiotics, steroids and a ventilating machine, and it is the hospital’s position that there is nothing further that can be done and they can only ‘hope for the best,'” the suit says.

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