"They used us as an experiment": Arkansas inmates who were given ivermectin to treat COVID file federal lawsuit against jail
CBSN
A group of men detained at Washington County Detention Center in Arkansas say that the jail's medical staff gave them the anti-parasite drug ivermectin last year, without their consent, to treat COVID-19, while telling them the pills were "vitamins." On Wednesday, the American Civil Liberties Union, on behalf of the inmates, filed a federal lawsuit against the jail and its doctor.
The Food and Drug Administration and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have repeatedly warned against the use of ivermectin. The FDA has only approved the medication for humans to treat river blindness, intestinal strongyloidiasis, head lice and rosacea.
The lawsuit claims that medical staff at the jail gave the men ivermectin as early as November 2020, and that the men did not become aware of what the pill was until well after they received it. At a local finance and budget committee meeting last August, county sheriff Tim Helder confirmed that the facility's doctor Dr. Robert Karas prescribed ivermectin.
