Florida Teen Dies After Mother Gives Her Unproven COVID-19 Treatment
A 17-year-old Lee County teenager died after contracting coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in early June.
However, a newly released report from the medical examiner's office claimed that the girl died after her family treated her symptoms at home using unproven remedies.
According to the Miami-Dade Medical Examiner's Office, the victim identified as Carsyn Davis attended a 100-person church gathering roughly two weeks before her death.
The event did not require its attendees to wear face masks or observe social distancing measures.
Davis' mother gave her unproven drugs, including antibiotics and hydroxychloroquine. She was also given oxygen via her grandfather's portable machine.
Her family oversaw her treatment at home during the nine days following the church function, the Newsweek reported.
Davis was admitted to the hospital's pediatric unit on June 19, nearly two weeks after the event.
Doctors recommended intubation, but her parents refused to permit the procedure. She eventually received plasma therapy and intubation on June 22.
The teen died on June 23, making her the youngest coronavirus victim in Lee County.
Home Remedy
Davis was a cancer survivor, who battled against numerous health issues over the years.
Before her untimely death, she struggled with a rare nervous-system disorder, obesity, and an auto-immune disorder.
Her parents gave her azithromycin, an antibiotic that is being studied as a possible COVID-19 treatment, to protect her from contracting the virus.
Her mother works as a nurse, and her father is employed as a physician's assistant, the News-Press.com reported.
On June 13, Davis developed a headache and a mild cough. The family assumed the symptoms were from a sinus infection.
Six days later, the girl received an unspecified dose of hydroxychloroquine after her mother noticed that she looked "gray."
Davis' parents gave her oxygen used by her grandfather, who suffers from a pulmonary disease.
Her family rushed her to Gulf Coast Medical Center, but officials transferred the teen to The Golisano Children's Hospital.
Doctors in the pediatric unit confirmed that she had COVID-19. The girl's family intially refused to allow doctors to intubate her.
The 17-year-old girl received plasma treatment. She was eventually intubated after she failed to respond to the procedure.
Davis was later transferred to Nicklaus Children's Hospital in Miami, where she died from COVID-19-associated respiratory failure.
Discontinuing Hydroxychloroquine
On Saturday, the World Health Organization (WHO) formally stopped trials for hydroxychloroquine and lopinavir-ritonavir.
The announcement came after many trial results showed that the drugs did not help reduce coronavirus mortality rates.
Hydroxychloroquine or chloroquine is used to treat arthritis. Lopinavir serves as a treatment option for HIV patients, while ritonavir helps increase the level of lopinavir in the blood.
The ban does not affect studies where the drugs are used in patients, who are not hospitalized, as reported by The Hill.
The international health agency is currently leading a trial to determine the potential effect of the antiviral drug, remdesivir, which is being developed by Gilead Sciences.
The European Commission allowed doctors to prescribe the drug under conditional approval.
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