Woman sues Cedars-Sinai demanding that mother be given Ivermectin

LOS ANGELES  - A Hollywood woman is suing Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, alleging hospital doctors have wrongfully rejected her requests that her 75-year-old mother be given the powerful anti-viral drug Ivermectin as her health continues to deteriorate due to the coronavirus, as reported by City News Service.

"My mother is on death's doorstep, she has no other options,'' Sylvia Bagdassarian states in an affidavit in support of her Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit filed Friday, asking for a court order that the drug be given to her mother, Maria Rosa Bagdassarian.

She said she has researched cases around the country where hospitals refused to give patients Ivermectin, only to be ordered to do so by the courts.

She cites two such cases in which the sick patients recovered and eventually were released from the hospital.

"My research indicates that the risks are infinitesimally small, especially when balanced against her chance of survival without further medical treatment,'' Sylvia Bagdassarian said.

Doctors across the country, including Dr. Pierre Kory in Wisconsin and Dr. Zelenko in New York, have successfully treated thousands of COVID patients early in their sickness with Ivermectin. Dr. Pierre Kory, a Critical Care (intensivist) lung specialist who testified before the US Senate about Ivermectin, described it as miraculous and said, as a prophylaxis agent, "If you take Ivermectin, you will not get sick (with COVID)". He described how doctors have used it all over the world and in randomized trials where it has had overwhelming success. He also testified that it is extremely inexpensive and readily available all over the world.

During the Senate testimony, Dr. Kory said, "Ivermectin won the Nobel Prize in 2015 for its impacts on global health in the eradication of parasitical diseases. It is proving to be an immensely powerful antiviral and anti-inflammatory agent. It is critical for its use in this disease."

Dr. Kory's testimony is in direct opposition to naysayers who paint Ivermectin as mostly a medicine for horses. Proponents of Ivermectin point out that antibiotics are also used for horses. Ivermectin is safely used by humans all over the world.

According to the FDA website, "Some forms of ivermectin are used in animals to prevent heartworm disease and certain internal and external parasites. It’s important to note that these products are different from the ones for people, and safe when used as prescribed for animals, only," in addition to the weight differences.

A Cedars-Sinai representative did not immediately reply to a request for comment from Bill Heatherton, who was reporting on this story for City News Service.

Ivermectin is not yet recommended officially for use by the FDA for COVID-19, although it is being studied.

Proponents of Ivermectin point out that while it has proven effective for COVID-19 both prophylactically and with direct treatment, it would put a barrier to the approval of Coronavirus vaccines, according to FDA protocols. If there is a medicine or a cure for a disease , the FDA is less likely to approve a vaccine.

Maria Bagdassarian tested positive for COVID-19 on Aug. 1 and was admitted that day to Cedars-Sinai, the suit states. She was placed in the intensive care unit and given a high flow oxygen along with steroids, antibiotics and the drug Remdesivir for five days, the suit states.

No improvement was seen in the woman and her condition deteriorated to the point she is now sedated, intubated and on a ventilator as her blood oxygen levels have decreased, the suit states. The hospital's position is that there is nothing further that can be done and that they can only "hope for the best,'' the suit states.

Sylvia Bagdassarian, as her mother's guardian, has presented a prescription and requested many times that Cedars-Sinai give Ivermectin to her mother, but a hospital doctor responded that the drug was "not within the hospital protocols and would not help her mother,'' the suit states.

On Aug. 18, the doctor suggested that Sylvia Bagdassarian "come in and say goodbye to her mother,'' the suit states.

"Based upon my mother's current condition, there is no rational basis for the (Cedars-Sinai) to refuse to administer Ivermectin,'' Sylvia Bagdassarian states in her affidavit. "For all intents and purposes, it represents her last chance to survive. If she is going  to die anyway, then what is the risk in giving her the chance to try Ivermectin?''

Sylvia Bagdassarian offered to sign a waiver absolving the hospital of liability if it administered Ivermectin to her mother, but the doctors and administration still refused, the suit states.

BILL HETHERMAN from City News Service contributed to this report