Argentine coronavirus patient Oscar García Rúa, 93, died on Monday after receiving chlorine dioxide, a bleach, intravenously. His family successfully sued the clinic that treated him by requiring them to administer the disinfectant after a doctor’s suggestion.
Garcia was already seriously ill with the Chinese coronavirus before using chlorine dioxide. A lawyer for his family said Tuesday that they do not believe he died of coronavirus infection or exposure to chlorine dioxide, but from bacterial infection, and intend to sue Sanatorio Otamendi y Miroli SA again.
The legal decision sets the precedent that judges – who are normally legally trained but not medical – can intervene to force health professionals to administer treatments they disagree with. The federal court that heard the case rejected the clinic’s appeal against the decision.
Chlorine dioxide is a bleach commonly used to clean or disinfect items, but it has emerged as a dangerous and fraudulent “miracle cure” for coronavirus, sold by dubious sources around the world. The American Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has repeatedly warned Americans that ingesting chlorine dioxide poses “significant risks” to the health of anyone who does so, regardless of their coronavirus status.
According to Argentine newspaper The nation, García’s wife had also become seriously ill at the same clinic with the Chinese coronavirus, and doctors recommended the use of chlorine dioxide along with inhalable ibuprofen, an analgesic and anti-inflammatory. Although the doctor in question recommended experimental treatment, the clinic did not approve it and the Argentine public health authorities do not allow the use of bleach in this way. The woman died on January 6.
A day later, García’s family sued the clinic in court to demand that his father receive chlorine dioxide as soon as possible, to prevent him from also dying. Judge Javier Pico Terrero gave a favorable opinion to the family, ordering the clinic to allow treatment. While the clinic appealed, the court upheld its original decision, noting that traditional treatments for Chinese coronavirus did not help the patient to improve.
According to the clinic, García died 24 hours after receiving the chemical chlorine intravenously, experiencing a deterioration in his ability to breathe.
Martín Sarubbi, the family doctor, said Tuesday, according to the Argentine newspaper Clarín, that the family did not believe that García had died of infection by Chinese coronavirus, but of medical negligence, and that he would still sue the clinic for “wrongful death”.
“The doctor who treated him suggested chlorine dioxide and inhalable ibuprofen and Otamendi denied treatment. Before, we present a cause [to the court] and the court ruled on that, ”said Sarubbi in an interview. “The clinic continued to dilute the treatment. The reality is that [chlorine] dioxide is not prohibited. [Health authorities] discourage, but do not prohibit. The man died of a hospital-acquired infection and delayed treatment. “
The lawyer started to accuse the clinic of denying treatment “for economic reasons that have nothing to do with the effectiveness of the treatment”. He also said that García improved after the bleach administration.
Clarín quoted a medical specialist, Professor Carlos Damin, who lamented that chlorine dioxide is “a bleach … never, never used as a treatment”.
“There is no scientific evidence to show that it works as a medicine. It is clearly a toxic substance and can harm health, ”noted Damin. “It is not used in any country in the world except [socialist] Bolivia, which recently authorized its use ”.
Chlorine dioxide is commonly used as a bleaching agent and in minuscule amounts to disinfect water in treatment plants, according to the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. With the worsening Chinese coronavirus pandemic, however, dubious websites have sprung up around the world selling “miraculous” cures for coronavirus composed largely of chlorine dioxide, a phenomenon the FDA has repeatedly condemned.
“The US Food and Drug Administration has issued a warning letter to a seller who markets fraudulent and dangerous chlorine dioxide products, known as the ‘Miracle Mineral Solution’ for the prevention and treatment of ‘New Coronavirus 2019 Disease’ (COVID-19) , ”The FDA announced in April, referring to the Chinese coronavirus. The FDA has warned that those who consume the products “are drinking bleach” and that the FDA “is not aware of any scientific evidence to support its safety or effectiveness and that they pose significant risks to the patient’s health.”
Last month, an American in Massachusetts pleaded guilty to charges of “distributing and selling an unregistered pesticide” after being caught selling necklaces filled with chlorine dioxide, allegedly as a cure for Chinese coronavirus.
“At the height of a violent pandemic that kills thousands of people a day, this defendant tried to profit by tricking people into believing that a pesticide-coated lanyard would protect them from viruses like COVID-19 [Chinese coronavirus]”, US Attorney Andrew E. Lelling said of the man, identified by the local media as Jiule Lin. “It was a dangerous and opportunistic fraud.”
So far, there is no evidence of any police action against the doctor who suggested injecting bleach into García’s veins in Argentina.
Follow Frances Martel on Facebook and Twitter.