Dr. Paul Marik of Eastern Virginia Medical School has filed a lawsuit against Sentara Healthcare in Virginia after the hospital banned him from prescribing ivermectin as treatment for COVID. Dr. Marik, who is also a founding member of the Front Line COVID-19 Critical Care (FLCCC) Alliance, serves as Sentara Norfolk General Hospital's ICU director. He was met by supporters in Norfolk, Virginia when he arrived at the courthouse.
According to WND, Dr. Marik appeared in court on Thursday to request for a temporary order to allow him to prescribe ivermectin for COVID while his case progresses. His supporters outside the courthouse chanted his name and held signs, including one that told of how a husband was in the ICU and was denied ivermectin treatment. The doctor appeared before the crowd with his hand over his heart to show gratitude to those who came out to support him.
"Can you understand the toll that that takes that I have young patients - young patients in the 30s and 40s, who I had to watch die - while the hospital prevented me from giving them the treatment I thought was in their best interest?" Dr. Marik told WTKR-TV. "I think it's criminal. It's immoral, and it's illegal."
In the lawsuit, Dr. Marik argued that hospitalized patients have the right to choose what treatment they receive under the Virginia's Advanced Directive statute, just as long as the doctor deems it appropriate. The doctor's complaint argued that the statute does not say "as determined by the hospital," but instead says "as determined by (their) attending physician."
Furthermore, Dr. Marik argued that "this is not ivermectin," but instead is "about the bedside doctor being able to do what doctors have been doing for decades," which is to "decide what is the best treatment for their patients." He remarked that doctors "alone are responsible for the patient and the treatment of the patient," WAVY-TV reported.
Sentara Healthcare, meanwhile, stated that it "follows evidenced-based protocols as recommended by trusted agencies including CDC, NIH, and FDA," all of which "do not recommend the use of Ivermectin as a treatment for COVID-19 due to a lack of evidence regarding its safety and efficacy."
Meanwhile, on the same day that Dr. Marik filed a lawsuit against Sentara Healthcare, the Journal of Intensive Care Medicine (JICM) retracted an article that the doctor co-wrote on this MATH+ Hospital Treatment Protocol for COVID-19, which includes ivermectin, Medpage Today reported. The retraction notice identified communication it received from Sentara Norfolk General Hospital, which raised concerns over the "accuracy of COVID-19 hospital mortality data reported in the article pertaining to Sentara."
Dr. Marik is not the only doctor and proponent of ivermectin who is being discriminated against by hospital systems. In Texas, the Houston Methodist Hospital suspended Dr. Mary Bowden for "using her social media accounts to express her personal and political opinions about the COVID-19 vaccine and treatments," NBC News reported.
The hospital suspended the privileges of Dr. Bowden, who is an ear, nose and throat doctor at the facility. Her suspension meant that she no longer can admit or treat patients at the hospital while the investigation takes place. In her Twitter account, Dr. Bowden promoted ivermectin as a COVID treatment.
On November 10, Dr. Bowden shared, "Ivermectin might not be as deadly as everyone said it was. Speak up!"
