COVID Patient in Ivermectin Fight Is Dead

A woman who was involved in the ivermectin debate died Monday at a Chicago-area hospital. Veronica Wolski, 64, a QAnon follower who had been outspoken against masks and the COVID-19 vaccine, was hospitalized with the virus and made headlines after her husband announced she had requested to be treated with ivermectin and her supporters raised the issue on social media platforms. AMITA Health, which does not use ivermectin to treat COVID, said it had "hundreds of phone calls and emails associated with one patient's care," NBC Chicago reports.

"At AMITA Health, our first priority is the health and safety of our patients," it said in a statement on the case earlier this month. "Our physicians and clinicians follow the full guidance of the FDA and the CDC in the treatment of COVID-19." The FDA does not authorize ivermectin, a parasite medication often used on livestock, for use in treating COVID, and warns that such use can be dangerous. Some of Wolski's supporters had demanded the hospital release her over the weekend so she could get the drug elsewhere, the Chicago Tribune reports. In another case in Illinois that actually went to court, a judge blocked a man from receiving the drug. And in Ohio, a court ruled a hospital could stop providing it to a patient who wanted it. (More COVID-19 stories.)