Family members of a Nevada man who died after ingesting hydroxychloroquine have sued America’s Frontline Doctors for its promotion of the drug.
The estate of Jeremy Parker alleges that his death was caused by a doctor and by “falsehoods spread by America’s Frontline Doctors.”
Parker heard about the group’s promotion of hydroxychloroquine and contacted it in 2021, seeking a prescription, according to the lawsuit.
Through the group, Parker was connected with Dr. Medina Culver and was said to have had a telemedicine visit soon after.
During the visit, Culver prescribed hydroxychloroquine for COVID-19 treatment or prevention, the suit says. Parker then received a prescription for the drug.
In January 2022, Parker began experiencing “cold-like symptoms,” and thought he had COVID-19. Parker’s body was discovered at the home of a family friend with whom he’d been staying on Feb. 3, 2022.
Parker, 52, left behind a wife and three children.
A medical examiner concluded that the death was caused by the “therapeutic use of hydroxychloroquine.”
Dr. Robert Bruce Bannister said in an exhibit attached to the suit that Culver should not have prescribed the hydroxychloroquine because she did not physically examine him or perform any tests to determine the state of his heart. Bannister, a retired professor from the University of Nevada, Reno, said the ingestion of hydroxychloroquine may have caused the death.
Parker’s death “was caused by the negligence of Dr. Culver and by falsehoods spread by America’s Frontline Doctors,” the suit states.
The defendants did not respond to requests for comment. A lawyer representing the plaintiffs did not return an inquiry.
Hydroxychloroquine is approved in the United States to treat several conditions, including malaria and rheumatoid arthritis.
Hydroxychloroquine has shown some efficacy against COVID-19 in studies but other studies have indicated it has no effect and U.S. officials said in 2020 that it was not “reasonable to believe” that the drug was effective for treating COVID-19. Additionally, then-Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak, a Democrat, signed an order barring pharmacists from filling prescriptions for the drug for COVID-19 treatment.
Doctors often prescribe medicines for purposes other than that for which they’re approved. That’s known as an off-label prescription.
The suit alleges Dr. Culver and America’s Frontline Doctors have a duty to care for and treat patients “in a reasonable, prudent, and appropriate manner.” It claims the defendants failed to do so and “as a proximate result thereof, decedent died.”
The suit is seeking $30,000 in damages, and additional money for exemplary damages and attorneys’ fees and costs.
From The Epoch Times
