Naperville hospital ordered to let COVID-19 patient receive ivermectin from unvaccinated doctor
A COVID-19 patient at Edward Hospital has received the controversial drug ivermectin after a DuPage County judge ordered the Naperville hospital to allow an unvaccinated doctor into the building to treat the man.
Judge Paul Fullerton directed Edward to give temporary hospital privileges to Dr. Alan Bain so he could give 71-year-old Sun Ng capsules of the anti-parasitic drug.
Ng is a Hong Kong resident who came here to celebrate a granddaughter's first birthday. He was hospitalized with COVID-19 on Oct. 14 and has been on a ventilator since Oct. 18, according to court documents.
His daughter, who has legal control of his health care, requested the ivermectin treatment. He has been treated with antibiotics, steroids and Remdesivir.
But according to Ng's lawyers, the Naperville hospital refused to let Bain in over the weekend. On Monday, the hospital asked the judge to stay his order, arguing that allowing Bain in the building would violate hospital policy and Gov. J.B. Pritzker's executive order that requires health care personnel to be vaccinated against COVID-19.
Fullerton on Tuesday denied the hospital's request and reiterated his order that Bain be allowed in.
"Hopefully, Judge Fullerton's ruling will encourage hospitals to modify their COVID-protocols to incorporate more innovative drugs like ivermectin so that more lives are saved," said Kirstin Erickson, an attorney for Ng, in a news release.
A spokesman for Edward-Elmhurst Healthcare declined to comment on the case or Ng's condition. "We are unable to comment due to patient privacy guidelines," said Keith Hartenberger, systems director for public relations.
Bain is listed in an online directory of physicians willing to prescribe ivermectin to treat COVID-19.
The hospital's attorneys argued the drug, which is used to treat parasites in humans and animals, is not approved by the FDA for treatment of COVID-19 and has not been proved effective. They argued that the drug could potentially harm Ng.
Fullerton ruled Friday that potential side effects of a rash, diarrhea, nausea and dizziness were minimal compared to the high risk of death Ng faces from COVID-19.
"This is about a daughter seeking to save her father's life," Erickson said. "The judge agreed that there is no good reason for the hospital to refuse to allow her to provide a lifesaving, nontraditional drug when they have as good as declared him to be dying."
According to the news release, the hospital also said it wouldn't let Bain in over the weekend because the hospital's chief medical officer was not there to oversee Bain's administration of the drug.
In court records, the hospital argued Bain showed up at 11:30 p.m. Saturday, before he had privileges, and that Ng's daughter had not supplied court-required paperwork releasing the hospital from liability.
Bain is to be allowed to administer the drug once a day for 15 days.
The next court date is Nov. 19.
In May, Edward-Elmhurst Healthcare was ordered by a DuPage judge to allow Bain to treat a woman at Elmhurst Hospital.