A hospital in Montana went into lockdown and called the police after a woman threatened to use ivermectin treatment after her request was denied and threatened to commit violence.

Officials at another Montana hospital accused public officials of threatening and harassing their medical staff because they refused to use antiparasitic drugs or hydroxychloroquine to treat politically connected COVID-19 patients. Hydroxychloroquine is another American food and The Drug Administration does not authorize drugs to treat COVID.

In neighboring Idaho, a resident stated that after a relative of a COVID patient abused her and threatened physical violence, the police had to be called to the hospital because she would not prescribe Ivermectin or Hydroxy. Chloroquine, “These drugs are useful for the treatment of COVID-19,” she wrote.

These three conflicts occurred between September and November, highlighting the pressure of medical staff to provide unauthorized treatment for the new coronavirus, especially in areas where vaccination rates are low, government suspicions are high, and conservative leaders support treatment. .

Rich Rasmussen, President and CEO of the Montana Hospital Association, said: “You will encounter this situation from time to time, but it is not the norm.” Powerful dialogue. But you will have these outliers.”

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, even before the pandemic, the healthcare industry was ahead of all U.S. industries in terms of non-fatal workplace violence. COVID has made the problem worse, leading to upgrades in hospital safety, staff training, and demands for increased federal oversight.

In recent months, Ivermectin and other unauthorized COVID treatments have become a major source of controversy. Lawsuits regarding the hospital’s refusal to provide ivermectin to patients have been filed in Texas, Florida, Illinois and elsewhere. Ivermectin’s harassment has transcended U.S. borders and spread to providers and public health officials around the world, including Australia, Brazil, and the United Kingdom. Even so, relatively few reports of violence and threats of harassment have been seen recently in the Northern Rocky Mountains.

Ivermectin is approved for the treatment of animal parasites, and low-dose drugs are approved for the treatment of worms, head lice and certain skin diseases in humans. However, the FDA has not authorized the drug to treat COVID. The agency said that clinical trials are ongoing, but current data do not indicate that it is an effective treatment for COVID, and taking higher than approved levels can cause overdose.

Similarly, according to the FDA, hydroxychloroquine can cause serious health problems, and the drug does not help speed up recovery or reduce the chance of dying from COVID??.

According to a statement from the police department, the community medical center in Missoula, Montana was locked down and received a report on November 17, after a woman reportedly threatened violence against the treatment of her relatives. No one was arrested.

“The family is upset that the patient did not receive ivermectin treatment,” Lieutenant Eddie McLean said on Tuesday.

Hospital spokesperson Megan Condra confirmed on Wednesday that the patient’s relatives requested to take ivermectin, but she said the patient was not present because of COVID, but she declined to disclose the patient’s medical problems. Condra added that the hospital’s main entrance was locked to control people entering the building, but the hospital’s formal lockdown procedures were not implemented.

This panic is reminiscent of a panic in Idaho in September. Dr. Ashley Carvalho, who is completing her residency training in Boise, wrote in an op-ed in the “Idaho Capital Sun” that after she refused to prescribe ivermectin, she was hit by a patient Insults and threats from relatives, as well as physical violence and lawsuits. Or hydroxychloroquine.

“My patient has difficulty breathing, but my family refused to let me provide care,” Carvalho wrote. “The alarm is the only solution.”

An 82-year-old woman active in Republican politics in Montana was taken to St. Peter’s Health, a hospital in Helena, in October due to COVID. According to a November report by a special counsel appointed by state legislators, a family friend contacted former Republican state senator Chief Deputy Attorney General Chris Hanson and filed multiple complaints: Hospital officials did not provide relatives to stay. In order for the patient to sign, she was refused the treatment she liked and cut contact with her family. The family worried that hospital officials might prevent her from leaving. The patient later died.

The complaint led to the involvement of Republican Attorney General Austin Knudsen, who sent a text message to a lobbyist of the Montana Hospital Association who was also a member of the board of directors of St. Peter’s Hospital. The exchanged images are included in the report.

“I will send law enforcement agencies to intervene and file illegal restrictive charges,” Knudsen wrote to Mark Taylor, who responded that he would investigate.

“This has been happening since yesterday, and I hope the hospital can do the right thing. But my patience is fading,” the attorney general added.

A Montana Highway Patrol was sent to the hospital to receive statements from the patient’s family. Hansen also participated in a conference call with multiple healthcare providers. In the conference call, she talked about the “legal consequences” of withholding documents and the patient’s preferred treatment methods, including ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine.

According to the special prosecutor, former Republican state senator and public service commissioner Jennifer Field left a three-minute voice mail on the hospital phone line, saying that the patient’s friends in the Senate would not be happy to learn about the care provided by St. Peter’s Hospital. . report.

Field and the patient’s daughter also cited a “right to try” law passed by Montana legislators in 2015 that allows terminally ill patients to seek experimental treatment. However, a legal analysis written for the Montana Medical Association stated that although the law does not require providers to prescribe specific drugs when patients need them, they can be granted legal immunity if they decide to prescribe treatment. According to the Montana News Agency.

The report did not provide any conclusions or allegations of misconduct.

Hospital officials stated before and after the report that their healthcare providers were threatened and harassed when they refused certain treatments for COVID.

“We insist that it is inappropriate for public officials to participate in clinical care; individuals use their official positions to try to influence clinical care; and that some of the communications that occur are threats or harassment,” spokesperson Katie Gallagher said in a statement.

“In addition, we reviewed all medical and legal records related to the care of this patient and confirmed that our team provided care in accordance with clinical best practices, hospital policies, and patient rights,” Gallagher added.

The attorney general’s office did not respond to a request for comment, but told the Montana Free Press in a statement that no one from the state agency threatened anyone.

Rasmussen, head of the Montana Hospital Association, said officials at St. Peter’s Hospital have not yet sought help from the organization. He downplayed the attorney general’s intervention in Helena, saying that people who know medical leaders or trustees often advocate on behalf of relatives or friends.

“Is this different? Of course, because it comes from the Attorney General,” Rasmussen said. “But I think the AG is responding to voters. Others will contact anyone they know on the hospital board.”

He added that the hospital has procedures in place to allow patients’ family members to complain to the supervisor or other hospital leaders without resorting to threats.

Hospitals in the area have witnessed threats and allegations of harassment and declined to comment on their procedures for handling such conflicts.

Bozeman Health spokesperson Lauren Brendel said: “We respect the independent medical judgment of our providers, who practice medicine in accordance with approved, authorized treatments and recognized clinical standards.”

Tanner Gooch, a spokesperson for SCL Health Montana, who runs hospitals in Billings, Bart, and Myers, said that SCL does not endorse ivermectin or other COVID treatments that are not approved by the FDA, but does not prohibit them.

“Ultimately, treatment decisions are made by the provider,” Gucci said. “As far as we know, no COVID-19 patient in our hospital has been treated with ivermectin.”