JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Mayo Clinic cannot be required to administer unproven COVID-19 treatments to patients – even if they are dying.
That’s the finding of a state appeals court tonight, after reviewing the case of a local family seeking Ivermectin treatments for their loved one.
The family filed the suit against Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, arguing that their family member should be allowed to Ivermectin treatments despite hospital policy as he was given a 5% chance of surviving COVID.
The family of Daniel Pisano, 71, filed an emergency petition to force the hospital to allow an outside doctor to treat him with Ivermectin. Pisano later died after suffering a brain hemorrhage. It's not clear if it was directly related to COVID.
Ivermectin is used to treat parasites. It not proven to have any impact on COVID and its use is opposed by most doctors. But there have been some anecdotal success stories, and the family in this case argued a patient with little chance of surviving had nothing to lose.
The Appeals court judges said they “greatly empathize” with the family, but said that a patient does not have a right to demand a specific treatment if a hospital opposes it.