Dayton doctor who prescribed Ivermectin for COVID faces license deadline

The medical license for a Dayton doctor who prescribed Ivermectin, a drug primarily used for livestock, to treat a Butler County man hospitalized with COVID-19 expires Oct. 1.

Dr. Fred Wagshul has not yet applied for renewal, according to a story first published in the Ohio Capital Journal.

Wagshul is among the founding physicians of the Front Line COVID-19 Critical Care Association, which has championed ivermectin as a preventative and cure for the disease.

Ivermectin is an anti-parasitic in humans and a dewormer in livestock. Its use against COVID-19 comes over the objection and public warnings of Merck, the drug’s manufacturer, along with the CDC, FDA, WHO, American Medical Association and others, who warn of the lack of evidence pointing to any medical benefit and the side effects the drug can induce.

In a previous interview, Wagshul called the health warnings “censorship” and compared the blacklisting of the drug to “genocide” from the U.S. government.

In court, he recently testified to prescribing ivermectin to a 51-year-old man without talking to his treating physicians at a Cincinnati-area hospital or reviewing any clinical information. Hospital staff, which successfully fought off a lawsuit seeking to force them to administer ivermectin against their will, testified that this is a major break from standards of care from a doctor who is not board certified and thus would never be admitted to practice medicine at their hospital.

Wagshul did not respond to a request for comment.

The same Ohio Capital Journal article noted the State Medical Board of Ohio last week renewed the license of Dr. Sherri Tenpenny, who has been heavily criticized for her comments about COVID-19 and the vaccines.

Other physicians who have promoted misinformation have avoided professional censure from medical boards. An NPR review of medical licenses for 16 doctors who have proven track records of doing so online and in media interviews found 15 of them maintained active licenses in good standing. One appeared to have let his license expire, but there was no suggestion in his record that it was because of any disciplinary action.

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