Four times in the past several months (here, here, here, and here), we have reported on cases in which plaintiffs have sought injunctions that would compel hospitals to administer the anti-parasitic drug ivermectin to COVID-19 patients. Today we report on another such case, Texas Health Huguley, Inc. v. Jones,
COVID-19
Does the PREP Act Immunize Antivax Parents?

Now that a childhood COVID-19 vaccine has received FDA approval, the vaccination of school-aged minors is underway. Just as vaccination requirements for adults have prompted a wave of litigation, we expect the same with respect to COVID-19 vaccination as a prerequisite to attending primary schools. But with a twist. Unlike adults who ignore mandatory…
On Zoom Depositions

With November representing the 18th month of socially distanced litigation, we thought we’d take a look at what courts have said about remote (usually Zoom) depositions. Like it or not, we think they’re here to stay.
Yes/No
The first question is whether or not to have them. Can one side impose them unilaterally?
The answer…
No Preliminary Injunction for Student Who Refuses to Heed Private College’s Vaccine Mandate

We take a break from assembling Halloween costumes for the Drug and Device Law Little Rescue dogs – a UPS worker, complete with cardboard parcel, and Batwoman – for another great decision involving a plaintiff’s opposition to a vaccine mandate. A number of recent blogposts have reported unsuccessful efforts by anti-vaxxers to enlist judicial support…
Federal Court Upholds Oregon Covid-19 Vaccine Mandate

California is called the land of fruits and nuts, but the Harry and David Company – esteemed purveyor of fruits, nuts, and other delicacies – calls Oregon its home. Oregon gave us Tonya Harding and Ndamukong Suh. Oregon is also the only state besides New Jersey that forbids motorists from pumping their own gas.
We…
Third Circuit Rejects PREP Act Complete Preemption in Nursing Home Case

Last week the Third Circuit became the first federal appellate court to decide the question of whether federal courts have jurisdiction over COVID-related tort litigation. It concluded they did not. Maglioli v. Alliance HC Holdings LLC, — F.4th –, 2021 WL 4890189 (3d. Cir. Oct. 20, 2021). A decision directly at odds with…
Another University Win On A Challenge To A COVID-19 Vaccine Policy

We have tried to be pretty balanced in addressing a number of decisions over the last few months relating to lawsuits brought by the euphemistically labeled “vaccine hesitant” and their brethren who advocate aggressively for entitlement to “alternative” medical treatments like anti-parasitic (veterinary) drugs. We have been restrained in treating these lawsuits as having been…
NY Court Holds Covid Patient Has No Right to Ivermectin

Happy Birthday to the Drug and Device Law Daughter. You cannot come home from Kyrgyzstan soon enough. Fall might be the season of mists and mellow fruitfulness, but it is dismal without you. And we hope you have refrained from playing Buzkashi (headless goat polo).
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Sometimes we discern patterns in our posts. Last week…
Patient Has No Right to Receive, and Hospital Has No Duty to Administer, A Drug that Is Not the Standard of Care

For the second time in three weeks a court has denied an injunction that would have compelled a hospital to administer ivermectin to a patient seriously ill with COVID-19. We previously reported on the first of those decisions, Smith v. West Chester Hosp., LLC, 2021 WL 4129083 (Ohio Com. Pl. 2021). Today we report…
Federal Court: Anti-Vaxxers Do Not Have a Constitutional or Statutory Right to Endanger Everyone Else

Today we discuss a putative class action in which the named plaintiffs are a registered nurse who refuses to take a basic precaution to protect her vulnerable patients and a mother who is more interested in displaying her livestock than protecting her neighbors. Brought on behalf of all New Mexico residents who are equally selfish,…