"They said they were vitamins": Inmates in Arkansas jail say they were unknowingly given ivermectin
"They said they were vitamins": Inmates in Arkansas jail say they were unknowingly given ivermectin to treat COVID-19
By Li Cohen
September 3, 2021 / 8:12 PM / CBS News
An Arkansas doctor under investigation for prescribing an anti-parasite drug called ivermectin to jail detainees with COVID-19, even though federal health officials specifically warn against it, has said that those patients took the drug willingly. But several inmates at the Washington County jail say that is not the case — that they were given the pills with no indication of what they really were.
CBS News spoke with 29-year-old Edrick Floreal-Wooten over a video call from the jail on Friday. After testing positive for COVID-19 in August, he said he and other inmates went to "pill call" and were given several pills with the explanation that it would help them "get better." He said he and others asked repeatedly what the pills were.
"They said they were vitamins, steroids and antibiotics," Floreal-Wooten told CBS News. "We were running fevers, throwing up, diarrhea ... and so we figured that they were here to help us. ... We never knew that they were running experiments on us, giving us ivermectin. We never knew that."
"No one — including incarcerated individuals — should be subject to medical experimentation," ACLU of Arkansas Executive Director Holly Dickson said in a statement. "The detention center's failure to use safe and appropriate treatments for COVID-19 ... illustrates the larger systemic problem of mistreatment of detainees and over incarceration in Arkansas that has persisted — even in the midst of a pandemic."
Karas previously confirmed to CBS News that he had prescribed the drug, saying in an email that he obtained it from a licensed pharmacist "in dosages and compounds formulated for humans."
In an interview with CBS affiliate KFSM last week, Karas said jail detainees were "not forced" to take ivermectin and that many refuse several medications, including this one. The county sheriff also said its use by inmates was voluntary, AP reported.
CBS News has reached out to Karas and the Washington County jail for comment about the inmates' claims, but has not yet received a response.
Karas is now under investigation by the state's medical board.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/covid-19-ivermetin-arkansas-jail-inmates-vitamins/
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