International

US judge tosses order hospital treat Covid patient with ivermectin

AFP

A judge in the US state of Ohio has said a hospital cannot be forced to administer an unproven treatment to a patient with Covid-19, reversing the ruling of another court.

Judge Gregory Howard had ordered West Chester Hospital to administer the antiparasitic drug ivermectin to Jeff Smith, as prescribed by his physician, for 14 days.

Smith’s wife, Julie, had filed suit to force the hospital located outside Cincinnati to begin giving ivermectin to her 51-year-old husband, who has been on a ventilator since August 1.

Judge Michael Oster reversed Howard’s order on Monday.

While “everyone involved wants Jeff Smith to get better,” Oster said, the medical community at large does not advocate the use of ivermectin to treat Covid-19.

“No strong evidence by way of study or data analysis can, at this time, show that ivermectin should be recommended for Covid-19 treatment,” Oster said. “Based on the current evidence, ivermectin is not effective as a treatment for Covid-19.”

UC Health, which runs the West Chester Hospital, welcomed the judge’s ruling.

“We respect the expertise of our clinicians and appreciate the scientific rigor used to develop treatments, medications and other therapies,” UC Health said.

“We do not believe that hospitals or clinicians should be ordered to administer medications and/or therapies, especially unproven medications and/or therapies, against medical advice.”

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The case is one of several nationwide where courts have sided with litigants seeking to use ivermectin, despite scant evidence of its effectiveness against Covid and a rise in calls to poison centers as a result of misuse.

Since the start of the Covid pandemic, there has been considerable interest in repurposing existing medications.

Ivermectin attracted much attention, particularly in Latin America, and early lab studies suggested it might have beneficial properties for fighting the coronavirus.

But, as is often the case, promise in lab settings has so far failed to translate to real world success, as judged by its lack of clear efficacy in trials.

The National Institutes of Health says there is not enough evidence “either for or against the use of ivermectin for the treatment of Covid-19” until clear results become available from rigorous trials.

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Ivermectin is approved by the Food and Drug Administration to treat people with certain conditions caused by parasitic worms, but the agency has warned people against using it for Covid.

A report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showed that by mid-August, physicians were writing out more than 88,000 prescriptions of the drug per week — well above the pre-pandemic baseline of 3,600.

Poison control centers have seen a three-fold increase in the number of calls for ivermectin overdoses.

Ivermectin’s popularity against Covid has drawn comparisons to hydroxychloroquine, an anti-malarial drug that was particularly favored by conservatives last year, despite no strong evidence of real world efficacy.

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International

Paraguay summons Brazilian ambassador over Itaipú espionage scandal

Paraguay summoned the Brazilian ambassador in Asunción on Tuesday to demand “explanations” and called its own representative in Brasília for consultations following Brazil’s acknowledgment of an espionage operation. The Brazilian government, led by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, attributed the operation to the previous administration.

The surveillance effort aimed to uncover Paraguay’s position in now-suspended negotiations with Brazil regarding the pricing of electricity from the binational Itaipú hydroelectric plant, according to reports in the Brazilian press.

The Brazilian government “categorically denied any involvement in the intelligence operation,” stating in a Foreign Ministry communiqué on Monday that the espionage was carried out under former President Jair Bolsonaro’s administration (2019-2023).

“The operation was authorized by the previous government in June 2022 and was annulled by the interim director of the (state intelligence agency) ABIN on March 27, 2023, as soon as the current administration became aware of it,” Brazil’s government asserted.

Paraguay’s Foreign Minister Rubén Ramírez announced that Brazilian Ambassador José Antonio Marcondes de Carvalho was summoned “to provide detailed explanations” regarding the operation. Additionally, Paraguay recalled its diplomatic representative in Brasília “to report on aspects related to the intelligence activity conducted by Brazil regarding Paraguay’s government affairs.”

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International

Elon Musk to step down as government advisor, per Trump insiders

President Donald Trump has informed his inner circle that Elon Musk will be stepping down from his role as a government advisor, according to a report by Politico today.

Citing three individuals close to Trump, Politico states that the president is pleased with Musk’s leadership at the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), where he has implemented significant budget cuts. However, both have agreed that it is time for Musk to return to his businesses and support Trump from a different position outside the government.

A senior administration official told Politico that Musk will likely maintain an informal advisory role and continue to be an occasional visitor to the White House. Another source warned that anyone thinking Musk will completely disappear from Trump’s circle is “deluding themselves.”

According to the sources, this transition is expected to coincide with the end of Musk’s tenure as a “special government employee,” a temporary status that exempts him from certain ethics and conflict-of-interest regulations. This 130-day period is set to expire in late May or early June.

International

Milei vows to make Argentina so strong that Falkland Islanders “choose” to join

Argentine President Javier Milei reaffirmed his country’s claim over the Falkland Islands (known as the Islas Malvinas in Argentina) and praised the role of the nation’s armed forces during a ceremony marking the “Veterans and Fallen Soldiers of the Malvinas War Day,” commemorating 43 years since the 1982 conflict with the United Kingdom.

Argentina continues to assert sovereignty over the islands, arguing that Britain unlawfully seized them in 1833.

“If sovereignty over the Malvinas is the issue, we have always made it clear that the most important vote is the one cast with one’s feet. We hope that one day, the Malvinas residents will choose to vote with their feet and join us,” Milei stated.

“That is why we aim to become a global power—so much so that they would prefer to be Argentine, making deterrence or persuasion unnecessary. This is why we have embarked on a path of liberation, working to make Argentina the freest country in the world and once again the nation with the highest GDP per capita on the planet,” he added.