WWLT: “Jeffrey Smith has died following a lengthy battle with COVID-19. The 51-year-old Fairfield Township man had been in an intensive care unit for months. Smith was diagnosed with COVID-19 on July 9. He was admitted into the hospital six days later and has been on a ventilator for several weeks. He died Sept. 25, WLWT confirmed. Smith’s case made national headlines, as his wife, Julie Smith, wanted him to be treated with the controversial experimental drug ivermectin.”

“Julie Smith wanted her husband to be treated with ivermectin. She said despite her husband being treated with Remdesivir, steroids and plasma, his condition continued to decline. She said she read articles in other cases where COVID-19 patients’ conditions reportedly improved after being given ivermectin. The Smiths received a prescription for Ivermectin from Dr. Fred Wagshul, a pulmonologist out of Centerville. But officials at UC West Chester – where Jeffrey Smith was staying — refused to treat him with the drug. That prompted a lawsuit from Julie Smith, who got a temporary order from Butler County Common Pleas Judge Gregory Howard. That judge ordered doctors to administer the drug, but that order only lasted 14 days.”

“But Butler County Judge Michael Oster later denied a preliminary injunction request, saying while it is impossible not to feel sympathetic toward the patient and his family, the court made the decision in accordance with Ohio law. ‘While the case at bar has emotion to it, the following decision will be strictly based upon the standards of law on a preliminary injunction case. As such, public policy would not favor the granting of the injunction by clear and convincing evidence.'”