Man whose wife won legal bid to have his Covid treated with ivermectin dies

Ivermectin is an anti-parasitic medication, mostly administered to livestock

A Pennsylvania man, whose wife fought a legal battle to have his Covid-19 infection treated with ivermectin, has died days after receiving the second dose of the drug.

Keith Smith, 52, died on Sunday after being hospitalised for nearly three weeks. He was diagnosed with the coronavirus infection on 10 November and was admitted to the hospital’s intensive care unit in a medically induced coma on a ventilator on 21 November.

As his health continued to degrade, his wife of 24 years, Darla Smith moved court to have the hospital administer ivermectin.

Ivermectin is an anti-parasitic medication, mostly administered to livestock to treat scabies and other ailments.

Countless viral posts in conservative Facebook groups and other online spaces, driven in part by a pro-Donald Trump telemedicine service that sells prescriptions for ivermectin, have hailed it as a miracle drug and advised followers to do whatever they can to get it.

But the drug has not been approved by the Food and Drug Administration because it hasn’t shown promise in pre-clinical trials. The World Health Organisation in March advised that the effectiveness of the drug in treating Covid-19 remained unproven.

On 3 December, York County Court judge Clyde Vedder ruled that he could not compel the hospital to treat the patient with ivermectin, but allowed Ms Smith to have an independent physician administer it.

Ms Smith sued UPMC Memorial hospital to treat her husband with ivermectin after reportedly learning about similar cases across the US. She was assisted by Front Line Covid-19 Critical Care Alliance, a group that promotes the use of the controversial drug in the treatment of coronavirus.

“He is the love of my life, and I am completely lost and empty without him. At this point, there is nothing more the [hospital] can do, or will do, for my husband,” she wrote in an affidavit to the court. "However, I cannot give up on him, even if the [hospital] has ... Running out of options, I began researching other COVID-19 treatment options.”

Mr Smith received two doses before his condition worsened and the doctor halted the treatment, USA Today reported.

“I believe if heaven is real, he is well, and whole, and pain free, and complete,” Ms Smith told The York Dispatch after her husband died.

Similarly, a 47-year-old teacher from Florida with Covid-19 whose husband also went to court to get her treated with ivermectin died in November.