On Monday, the Loudoun County Circuit Court Judge James Fisher found a hospital in Warrenton, Virginia in contempt of court for "needlessly interposing requirements that stand in the way of the patient's desired physician administering investigational drugs as part of the Health Care Decisions Act and the federal and state Right to Try Acts."
An ICU patient at the Fauquier Hospital was fighting for her life when doctors and her family wanted to try ivermectin, but was blocked by the hospital. According to CBN News, the 63 year old patient named Kathleen Davies was ill with COVID since October and was placed on a ventilator in early November to help her breathe.
Her family, including her son Christopher who worked as a radiologic technologist at the same hospital, was determined to save her life. Davis' son and husband had been fighting a legal battle against the hospital over the last week so she can be administered ivermectin.
Davies' husband, who served as her proxy, requested that the hospital administer ivermectin as a last attempt to save her life. Judge Fisher signed an order on December 9 to allow the patient to be administered ivermectin but by the time of the contempt hearing on Monday, Davies had still not been administered ivermectin.
Monday night's contempt order resulted in requiring the VA hospital to pay "$10,000 per day, retroactive to the date of the court's injunction order filing (Dec. 9) and shall continue to pay such sums until the ordered relief has been accomplished." It was only then that a Fauquier Hospital ICU nurse administered at 8:45 p.m. on Monday night.
According to the Fauquier Times, the hospital's spokeswoman Sarah Cubbage released a statement on Tuesday reiterating the healthcare institution's "top priority...to provide safe, high-quality care to the patients we serve, which includes the protection of their privacy." After relaying how the hospital must "follow the appropriate steps to credential and privilege physicians to practice medicine at our facilities," the spokeswoman claimed that the hospital "cannot compel physicians to administer treatment that is against their clinical judgment and is not within the accepted medical standards of care."
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) continues to warn against the use of ivermectin on COVID patients despite its proven effectiveness. But Davies' son told NBC Washington, "At the end of day, whether my mom lives or dies, I'll be able to say we tried everything." Davies' husband admitted that he now has "hope" that his wife would survive COVID.
The Fauquier Hospital is now asking the court to purge the contempt order now that it has complied and allowed the patient to receive the treatment her family wants.
The Davies family isn't the only one fighting a legal battle to administer ivermectin for their ill family member. On November 19, 52 year old Keith Smith was admitted at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center for COVID. As his condition deteriorated, he was transferred to the ICU and placed on a ventilator in a medically induced coma, the York Daily Record reported. His wife, Darla then filed a lawsuit at the York County Court asking a judge to order the hospital to administer ivermectin to her husband.
According to the York Dispatch, the county judge ruled that while he could not compel the hospital to administer ivermectin, he ordered the hospital to allow limited access to other doctors who were willing to administer ivermectin to Smith. He was given the treatment, but it appeared to be too late as Smith passed away on Sunday night from COVID.
