# A no win situation for doctors **URL:** \ **Category:** The Quarantine Zone\ **Tags:** covid-quarantine\ **Created:** [August 30, 2021, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-no-win-situation-for-doctors/949790 "2021-08-30T18:11:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2021, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-no-win-situation-for-doctors/949790/121 "2021-09-07T00:54:07Z")
Judge reverses order: > **[Judge reverses order forcing Ohio hospital to give ivermectin to COVID-19...](https://www.10tv.com/article/news/local/ohio/judge-reverses-order-to-give-ivermectin-to-covid-19-patient/530-1b31c0c6-e010-49ed-b300-422148a0f03c)** > > A judge issued an order siding with West Chester Hospital, saying the hospital does not have to honor an ivermectin prescription written for Jeffrey Smith. ---
**Author:** ![notadoctorshh](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/notadoctorshh/32/9286_2.png) [@notadoctorshh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notadoctorshh)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2021, 9:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-no-win-situation-for-doctors/949790/122 "2021-09-07T09:45:14Z")
Isn’t ivermectin medicine for animals? Honestly… I’m no expert but I’ve been seeing tons of articles on why to **not** drink ivermectin for covid. [https://www.fda.gov/consumers/consumer-updates/why-you-should-not-use-ivermectin-treat-or-prevent-covid-19](https://www.fda.gov/consumers/consumer-updates/why-you-should-not-use-ivermectin-treat-or-prevent-covid-19) ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2021, 9:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-no-win-situation-for-doctors/949790/123 "2021-09-07T09:56:09Z")
> [@notadoctorshh](#): > > Isn’t ivermectin medicine for animals? Honestly… I’m no expert but I’ve been seeing tons of articles on why to **not** drink ivermectin for covid. No, don’t drink the OTC stuff, meant for deworming horses, in an attempt to cure or prevent covid. Ivermectin, as has been discussed in this thread and a few others, has been approved for use in humans. But not for viruses and really not for covid. ---
**Author:** ![notadoctorshh](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/notadoctorshh/32/9286_2.png) [@notadoctorshh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notadoctorshh)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2021, 9:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-no-win-situation-for-doctors/949790/124 "2021-09-07T09:57:49Z")
I mentioned this because I remember a friend getting diagnosed with covid and a doctor prescribing her ivermectin, I was like; wtf? I was weirded out to say the least lol. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2021, 10:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-no-win-situation-for-doctors/949790/125 "2021-09-07T10:05:35Z")
Assuming your friend took issue with that (or does now), it might be worth reporting that doctor to [whoever one would report doctors to]. I mean, if this was a while back and the doctor had legitimate reason to think this was a legitimate treatment to a novel virus, I could understand. For example, if they could show that they read or heard it from a reputable source, and had no reason to think otherwise at the time. OTOH, if this happened, say, yesterday, by a doctor working in a non-fringe medical group, they may want to know about it. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2021, 11:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-no-win-situation-for-doctors/949790/126 "2021-09-07T11:23:27Z")
> [@notadoctorshh](#): > > I mentioned this because I remember a friend getting diagnosed with covid and a doctor prescribing her ivermectin, I was like; wtf? I was weirded out to say the least lol. Did your friend request it or was it the doctor’s idea? Apparently a lot of people are getting their less than scrupulous doctors agree to prescribe it off-label: or one presumes the uses are off-label for Covid, one stat from a recent article said it’s being prescribed in the US at 4x the normal annual rate and as far as I know the incidents of human intestinal worms, scabies, and pubic lice haven’t exploded. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2021, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-no-win-situation-for-doctors/949790/127 "2021-09-07T13:13:48Z")
Oh, is it also used for intestinal worms? I wonder if I’ve taken it. I’ve been treated for pinworms, way back when. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2021, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-no-win-situation-for-doctors/949790/128 "2021-09-07T14:16:38Z")
That I’m aware of, worldwide intestinal worms is the #1 most common use in human beings. Pages on the CDC website note that it’s also used for scabies, pubic lice, and a specific type of rosacea that involves mites. ---
**Author:** ![notadoctorshh](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/notadoctorshh/32/9286_2.png) [@notadoctorshh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notadoctorshh)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2021, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-no-win-situation-for-doctors/949790/129 "2021-09-07T14:39:55Z")
Yep it was from a way’s back somewhere in December of 2020, you might be right though. There was a huge blur between symptoms and covid cures during that time. ---
**Author:** ![notadoctorshh](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/notadoctorshh/32/9286_2.png) [@notadoctorshh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notadoctorshh)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2021, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-no-win-situation-for-doctors/949790/130 "2021-09-07T14:41:49Z")
I’ll be clarifying with my friend if she had actually requested it (which I highly doubt, tbh…). I’ve seen a number of doctors do it too before the news reports arose that it was, indeed, a non-related medicine to treating covid. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2021, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-no-win-situation-for-doctors/949790/131 "2021-09-07T14:47:51Z")
This is astounding: “Dr. Fred Wagshul, a founding physician of the Front Line COVID-19 Critical Care Alliance, a nonprofit that touts ivermectin as a wonder drug…prescribed Jeffrey Smith 21 days’ worth of ivermectin without reviewing Jeffrey Smith’s clinical information or talking to any of his treating physicians. He said the pharmaceutical industry and U.S. government have smeared ivermectin and “censored” its allegedly undeniable beneficial value.” “However, when asked if it had benefitted Smith, he hedged”. “I honestly don’t know, but the rule of thumb is, when something is working, you don’t stop it,” he said." Elsewhere in the article it’s reported that physicians are getting ready to wean the patient off the ventilator, implying some improvement in his condition, and as I predicted, the ivermectin he received (never mind all the evidence-based intensive care he got) is getting credit. It’s classic in the realm of quackery. Recover from cancer? Must be the apple cider vinegar you drank, not the surgery and adjuvant drug therapy you received. ---
**Author:** ![Kimera757](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kimera757/32/3765_2.png) [@Kimera757](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimera757)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2021, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-no-win-situation-for-doctors/949790/132 "2021-09-08T23:48:26Z")
> **[An Ohio Judge Reverses An Earlier Order Forcing A Hospital To Administer...](https://www.npr.org/2021/09/07/1034947315/ivermectin-ohio-hospital-order-judge?utm_source=npr_newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_content=20210908&utm_term=5739006&utm_campaign=news&utm_id=58969490&orgid=692&utm_att1=)** > > Doctors at West Chester Hospital were forced to give ivermectin to a COVID-19 patient after his wife went to court. A judge has reversed the order, citing lack of medical support for the treatment. > [@](#): > > A judge in Ohio has reversed an earlier emergency order that required a hospital to administer ivermectin to a COVID-19 patient against the hospital’s wishes. A different judge issued the previous order. > [@](#): > > “While this court is sympathetic to the Plaintiff and understands the idea of wanting to do anything to help her loved one, public policy should not and does not support allowing a physician to try ‘any’ type of treatment on human beings,” the judge wrote. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2021, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-no-win-situation-for-doctors/949790/133 "2021-09-09T00:41:15Z")
Is ivermectin a miracle drug? Doctors know that a small percentage of patients are contrarian, do not like to follow advice and state that many different treatments recommended were unhelpful or made things worse. I would occasionally tell these patients that some alternative studies suggest chamomile tea is effective in some people for treating pain/insomnia/dyspepsia but the evidence was weak, I could not personally recommend it, and I thought they would be wasting their money by trying this unproven and controversial treatment. Guess what worked? ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2021, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-no-win-situation-for-doctors/949790/134 "2021-09-12T00:53:36Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > Oh, is it also used for intestinal worms? I wonder if I’ve taken it. I’ve been treated for pinworms, way back when. It’s a systemic poison mainly used for gut parasites but any parasite in the body – i.e.blood-borne – is susceptible. I mentioned a few days ago if your doc suspects your horse has such, or more commonly dogs (heartworms) Ivermectin has to be administered vary cautiously lest they die off in great numbers and trigger thrombosis. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-no-win-situation-for-doctors/949790.md?page=6)