An Arkansas prison was found to be prescribing inmates an animal parasite drug to treat COVID-19.
A member of the Washington County Quorum Court, the local legislature, said: During a meeting on Tuesday, she learned from a doctor, Robert Karas, who had administered ivermectin to inmates at Karas Correctional.
The member, Eva Madison, also said she got from one a county employee is prescribed the drug by a doctor after testing negative for COVID-19. Karas reportedly told her to pick up the $ 76 drug from his pharmacy.
The employee’s GP quickly instructed him to throw away the drug.
“I heard a report from a county employee who was sent there to Dr. Karas, for testing, tested negative, got a prescription for ivermectin, was asked to see Dr The employee reported it to his GP, ”Madison said.
“His family doctor said, ‘You have to throw this in the trash.’ He lost $ 76 because Dr. Karas has prescribed deworming medicine to a county employee to treat a disease he didn’t have, ”Madison added.
She said the position of physician for treating inmates at the facility “raises many eyebrows in the Washington County and area medical community.”
“And at a time when the world is laughing at the people who take cow dewormers, I think we need to rethink who we’re using,” Madison said.
“The employee was fortunate to have a doctor to go to and get a second opinion. Our inmates don’t have that choice, ”she added.
Prescribing ivermectin to inmates in Arkansas comes amid an increased focus on animal parasite medicine after the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warned the public not to use it to treat COVID-19.
“You are not a horse. You are not a cow. Seriously, all of you. Stop that, ”the FDA wrote in a tweet on Saturday.
You are not a horse. You are not a cow. Seriously, all of you. Stop it. https://t.co/TWb75xYEY4
– US FDA (@US_FDA) August 21, 2021
The agency said that “using a treatment for COVID-19 that isn’t FDA cleared or cleared can cause serious harm unless part of a clinical trial.
While the drug is approved for humans and animals, the FDA says it will be used to treat some parasitic worms, head lice, and skin conditions. If taken in large doses, it can be dangerous and cause serious harm.
Washington County Sheriff Tim Helder has also confirmed ivermectin’s use in prison, according to The Associated Press.
Helder did not disclose how many inmates of the 710-bed prison were given the drug, the AP reported. However, he said that medical care was not his responsibility.
“Whatever a doctor prescribes, that is not in my bailiff,” said Helder, according to the AP.
