NEW YORK (AP) - Mask rules, vaccination mandates and business shutdowns have all landed in the courts during the COVID-19 outbreak, confronting judges with questions of science and government authority.
Now they are increasingly being asked to weigh in on the deworming drug ivermectin.At least two dozen lawsuits have been filed around the U.S., many in recent weeks, by people seeking to force hospitals to give their COVID-stricken loved ones ivermectin, a drug for parasites that has been promoted by conservative commentators as a treatment despite a lack of conclusive evidence that it helps people with the virus.Interest in the drug started rising toward the end of last year and the beginning of this one, when studies — some later.