The family members of a Nevada man who died after ingesting hydroxychloroquine are suing America’s Frontline Doctors for its promotion of the drug.
The estate of Jeremy Parker is making allegations that the man’s death was caused by a doctor and “falsehoods spread by America’s Frontline Doctors.”
The lawsuit alleges that Parker heard about the group’s promotion of hydroxychloroquine and contacted the group in 2021, seeking a prescription. Through the group, Parker was connected with Dr. Medina Culver and reportedly had a telemedicine visit not long after where he was prescribed the drug for COVID-19 treatment or prevention.
In January 2022, Parker began experiencing “cold-like symptoms” and thought he had COVID-19, but on Feb. 3, 2022, Parker’s body was discovered at the home of a family friend with whom he’d been staying. The 52-year-old leaves behind a wife and three children.
A medical examiner concluded that the death was caused by the “therapeutic use of hydroxychloroquine.”
The suit states that Parker’s death “was caused by the negligence of Dr. Culver and by falsehoods spread by America’s Frontline Doctors.”
In an exhibit attached to the suit, Dr. Robert Bruce Bannister said that Culver should not have prescribed the hydroxychloroquine because she did not physically examine him nor 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.
Hydroxychloroquine is approved in the United States to treat several conditions including malaria and rheumatoid arthritis, and while some studies have shown that the drug has some efficacy against COVID-19, others have indicated that 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.
Former Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak, a Democrat, signed an order at the time barring pharmacists from filling prescriptions for the drug for COVID-19 treatment.
The suit alleges that Culver and America’s Frontline Doctors have a duty to care for and treat patients “in a reasonable, prudent, and appropriate manner” and 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.
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