Legal Briefs: Court Asked to Compel Hospital to Provide Ivermectin to Patient With COVID-19

After hearing the arguments, the court sided with the hospital, holding that it did not have an enforceable duty to treat the patient with the medication, noting that ivermectin’s use is contrary to the accepted health care standards for treating patients with COVID-19. Most important, though, the court noted that, “Patients, even gravely ill ones, do not have a right to a particular treatment, and medical providers’ duty to treat is coterminous with their standard of care. This court will wield its equitable powers only to enforce a right or duty; in their absence, relief is not available. The patient has this Court’s sincerest sympathies and best wishes, but not an injunction.”