Minnesota medical board reprimands physician assistant for undocumented Ivermectin use on COVID patients
File photo ivermectin (Photographer: Dimas Ardian/Bloomberg via Getty Images) (Getty Images)
(FOX 9) - The Minnesota Board of Medical Practice reprimanded a physician assistant’s license for prescribing a controversial drug for COVID-19 treatment and not documenting it on patient records.
The state medical board’s complaint review committee said they received three reports against physician assistant Matthew Trom stating he was prescribing Ivermectin for off-label use to treat patients with mild to moderate COVID-19 symptoms.
Ivermectin is an antiparasitic drug often used to treat tropical diseases, such as infections caused by parasitic worms or scabies. According to its website, the FDA said there had been a growing interest in the drug for COVID-19 treatment, but clinical trials have not shown it is an effective or safe treatment for the virus.
Trom was accused of prescribing Ivermectin to patients with COVID-19 between July and December 2021. He told the committee he did not document the treatment on patients' records because of the "intense controversy surrounding Ivermectin as a treatment option for COVID-19," records read.
As a result of his actions, the review committee reprimanded his license.
During a meeting with the committee, Trom said he "viewed his actions as reasonable and within the standard of care" when he wrote the prescriptions, according to records.
Trom is required under an agreement with the board to complete coursework on professional boundaries, medical ethics, medical records management and interpreting and evaluating medical research. Additionally, the committee said he is to review three websites on COVID-19 treatment and then write a paper on what he learned.
The reprimanded document did not say how many patients Trom prescribed the medication to.