Court rules Fort Worth hospital can’t be forced to allow Ivermectin treatment for COVID
A ruling by the Second Court of Appeals on Thursday nullified a trial court’s order which would have granted an outside doctor temporary privileges at a North Texas hospital to administer Ivermectin to Tarrant County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Jason Jones.
Since Sept. 28, Jones, 48, has been hospitalized at Texas Health Huguley Hospital Fort Worth South with complications from COVID-19, and he was put on a ventilator in early October. After his health declined, his wife, Erin, asked for Ivermectin to be prescribed and administered to Jones, but the hospital denied the request, according to court documents.
Following the denial, Erin Jones sued the hospital in order to allow Houston-based Dr. Mary Talley Bowden to prescribe and administer Ivermectin as a treatment for her husband, court documents say.
The Second Court of Appeals said in its ruling that the court is bound by the law, which does not allow judicial intervention in the case.
“Judges are not doctors,” the ruling states. “We are not empowered to decide whether a particular medication should be administered, or whether a particular doctor should be granted ICU privileges. Our role is to interpret and apply the law as written.”
Texas Health Huguley Hospital said in its appeal that the prescription and administration of Ivermectin to Jones would be medically inappropriate and that Bowden did not examine him before prescribing it, according to court documents.
Ivermectin tablets, which are approved by the Food and Drug Administration at specific doses to treat some parasitic worms in people, have not been authorized or approved by the FDA for preventing or treating COVID-19 in humans or animals, according to the FDA’s website. The FDA said clinical trials are ongoing but currently available data does not show Ivermectin is safe or effective against the virus.
If a health care provider writes an Ivermectin prescription, the FDA advises consumers to get the prescription filled through a legitimate source, such as a pharmacy, and take it exactly as prescribed, according to the administration’s website.
Misconceptions about Ivermectin’s effectiveness spread when a non-peer-reviewed paper said it could lower COVID-19 death rates by more than 90%, McClatchy News previously reported. That study was later withdrawn due to reports of plagiarism and alleged data manipulation.
In court testimony, Bowden, an ear, nose and throat specialist, said she has treated over 2,000 COVID patients and has successfully prescribed Ivermectin many times.
The Second Court of Appeals said in the ruling that the law does not allow any court to substitute non-medical judgment for the professional medical judgments of health care providers — whether judges agree, disagree or have serious doubts about them.
“Although we may empathize with a wife’s desire to try anything and everything to save her husband, we are bound by the law, and the law in this case does not allow judicial intervention,” the court’s opinion, written by Chief Justice Bonnie Sudderth, states.
One of lawyers representing Erin Jones, Jerri Lynn Ward, said in a statement to the Dallas Morning News that attorneys are evaluating whether to appeal the ruling to the Texas Supreme Court.
A GoFundMe fundraiser was created for Jones’ medical expenses titled “Jason Jones and Family” on Oct. 14 but was taken down after it was reviewed and found to be in violation of GoFundMe’s terms of service, according to a GoFundMe spokesperson. The spokesperson did not specify which terms of service were violated by the fundraiser as of Friday at 6:50 p.m.
The original fundraiser raised $36,453 prior to its removal and all funds are available to be released to the Jones family, the spokesperson said. The couple has six children.
Since its removal, two more fundraisers have been created, one on GiveSendGo titled “Jason Jones and Family” and another one on GoFundMe titled “Jason Jones and Family 2.” As of Friday evening, the GiveSendGo fundraiser had raised over $5,000 and the second GoFundMe had raised $700.
This story was originally published November 19, 2021 at 7:16 PM.
