An Argentine judge forced a private clinic in Buenos Aires to administer chlorine dioxide treatment to a patient with Covid-19, at the request of his family, a decision criticized by the medical community.
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The use of chlorine dioxide to treat Covid-19 is not authorized by the National Administration for Drugs, Food and Medical Technology (Anmat) and the World Health Organization (WHO) has regularly warned against this product, often presented on the internet and social networks as a "
miracle cure
".
The civil judge, Javier Pico Terreno, responded favorably to a request filed by the patient's son-in-law and forced the Otamendi y Miroli hospital to administer the treatment prescribed by the particular neurosurgeon of the patient, who is in serious condition.
The clinic appealed the decision, but the product had to be administered to the patient.
The establishment, however, stressed that it disclaims all responsibility.
In August, the Ministry of Health recalled in a statement about chlorine dioxide that "
no scientific study demonstrates its effectiveness and that no authorization has been granted by the ministry for its marketing and use
" against the Covid-19.
The lawsuit had been filed on January 7 by José Maria Lorenzo whose mother had died of Covid-19 and who wanted his stepfather Oscar Garcia Rua to receive "
emergency
"
treatment
based on nebulization of intravenous ibuprofen and chlorine dioxide.
In his decision, the judge considered that "
the assumption of responsibility for the treatments indicated would not cause serious damage
" to the hospital, but "
however avoids the worsening of the living conditions of the patient
".
The court ruling has angered the medical community.
"
That a judge decides that a doctor must apply a substance for which there is no scientific proof is really worrying
", reacted Omar Sued, president of the Argentinian company of infectious disease.
Ignacio Maglio, lawyer for the public hospital Muniz, Argentina's reference center for infectious diseases, denounced "
a legal aberration and a scandal
".
"
It is an abuse of judicial power, where with a medical certificate a measure is imposed with all the risks and damages that this implies
", he was indignant.
Chlorine dioxide is used to disinfect medical and laboratory equipment, to treat water at low concentrations or as a bleach.
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