On June 23, a 17-year-old teen girl from Lee County, Florida, died from COVID-19 after her mother used unproven drugs to treat her and put her on an oxygen tank used by her grandfather.
Self-medication
On June 10, Carsyn Leigh Davis started showing symptoms of the COVID-19 after her mother Carole Brunton Davis made her attend a youth group event at their church.
Around 100 people attended the church function, according to the Miami-Dade Medical Examiner's Office. Carsyn did not wear a mask and the said event did not follow social distancing. The website News-Press could not verify which church was involved and Carole is not returning calls from reporters since July 6.
Carsyn had struggled with numerous health issues, she had a rare nervous-system disorder that was resolved when she was 5-years-old. She also suffered from obesity and auto-immune disorder, according to the report by RawStory.
The teen's mother is a nurse and her father is a physician assistant. On June 19, Carole noticed that her daughter was gray and had developed a cough, headaches, and sinus pressure, they thought it was just a sinus infection. Instead of rusher her immediately to the hospital, her parents gave her azithromycin, which is an antibiotic that is being studied as a potential COVID-19 treatment.
The report published by Boston states that her parents did it as a "protective measure." She was also given an unspecified dose of hydroxychloroquine which is lupus and arthritis drug.
The drug was advertised by President Donald Trump as a possible treatment for COVID-19, although nothing has been proven. There is little evidence that the drug is effective in treating COVID-19.
Also Read: President Trump Cancels His Alabama Rally Due to COVID-19 Threat
The FDA has warned the public about using the drug outside of supervised hospital settings because it has the potential to cause liver, heart, and kidney problems.
Carsyn was then given the oxygen that was used by her grandfather, who has chronic obstructive pulmonary disease before they took her to the Gulf Coast Medical Center.
Medical officials then transferred Carsyn to The Golisano Children's Hospital, which confirmed that she had COVID-19. Her family refused to allow her to be intubated and opted for plasma treatment instead. However, that did not work and the doctors had no choice but to intubate her. Carsyn was then transferred to Nicklaus Children's Hospital in Miami, where she passed away.
A GoFundMe page was set up for Carsyn and as of July 6, it received around $8,400. On the GoFundMe page, Carole said that they were saddened by the passing of her young daughter, but they are comforted that she is now pain-free.
Hydroxychloroquine
After U.S President Donald Trump suggested that chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine are treatments for the coronavirus, however, medical experts have no proof that they actually work.
Despite the warnings posted by the CDC and the FDA, the sales of chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine skyrocketed in America from February to March. What alarms medical experts is that most Americans are relying on self-medication instead of going to the hospital.
This move is very dangerous especially if people take chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine on unrecommended doses. Some of the side effects of these drugs are nausea, vomiting, dizziness, stomach pain, and skin rash.
Related Article:Mongolia Quarantines Area Next to China After Discovering Cases of Black Plague
