The Warshawky Law Firm is very proud to represent a Long Island man whose wife died of severe COVID-19 illness after hospital administrators repeatedly blocked her attending physician’s prescriptions to treat her condition with ivermectin, despite the plaintiff obtaining two court orders requiring the ivermectin be given to his wife. The case is Scott Mantel as Administrator for the Estate of Deborah Bucko v. South Nassau Communities Hospital d/b/a Mount Sinai South Nassau, filed in Nassau County Supreme Court, and asserts claims for wrongful death and survival under New York law.
The facts of this tragic case show the hospital’s willful disregard for human life.
The decedent, Ms. Bucko, went into the hospital in February 2021 with a diagnosis of severe COVID-19 illness. Her illness did not respond to the hospital’s standard treatment protocols, and her condition steadily worsened. After nearly a month in the hospital, Ms. Bucko was placed on a ventilator. At this point, Mr. Mantel was told by hospital doctors that Ms. Bucko had little, if any, hope for recovery.
Unwilling to simply watch his wife die, Mr. Mantel researched possible alternative treatments, and he read several news stories about patients with severe COVID-19 illness who had been treated successfully with ivermectin. Through his research, he learned about the Front Line Covid-19 Critical Care Alliance (FLCCC), which was founded by a group of leading critical care specialists to help prevent and treat COVID, including with ivermectin. Given that Ms. Bucko was on death’s doorstep, Mr. Mantel believed they should try ivermectin with her.
Ms. Bucko’s treating infectious disease doctor acknowledged that he was “all out of bullets,” meaning that they had tried the hospital’s standard treatment protocols and Ms. Bucko was not getting better. This doctor acknowledged that ivermectin was safe and potentially could help Ms. Bucko. So on or about April 7, 2021, he wrote an initial 5-day prescription for ivermectin.
The prescription was immediately blocked by senior hospital administrators, who rejected Mr. Mantel’s pleas to treat Ms. Bucko with ivermectin, despite this being his wife’s last chance to live.
With the help of attorneys who were fighting these cases all across the country, Mr. Mantel went to court and obtained an emergency order requiring the hospital to administer the ivermectin to Ms. Bucko. The Order was served on the hospital on April 20, 2021 (unfortunately, 13 days after the ivermectin had been prescribed).
When Ms. Bucko started being treated with the ivermectin, her respiratory and cardiovascular functions significantly improved and she now qualified for a tracheostomy, which was intended to help transition her to breathing on her own. As a result of the ivermectin, Ms. Bucko was on her way to recovery!
Once the initial prescription for ivermectin ended, Mr. Mantel discussed further ivermectin treatment with the infectious disease doctor, who acknowledged that Ms. Bucko had improved on the first round of ivermectin. The doctor wrote another prescription for ivermectin, this time for 35 days (to May 31) and with an increased dosage (60mg per day), which was entered into the medical records on April 27, 2021.
Once again, the hospital blocked the prescription.
So Mr. Mantel returned to court, and on May 4, 2021, obtained a second emergency order requiring the hospital to administer the ivermectin to Ms. Bucko The Order was served on the hospital on May 4, 2021 (unfortunately, 7 days after the ivermectin had been prescribed).
Once the ivermectin was resumed, Ms. Bucko’s condition started showing improvement.
But instead of treating Ms. Bucko for the full 35 days as originally prescribed, the prescription was changed on May 5, 2021 – after service of the Court’s Order – stopping the ivermectin after only 5 days. When Mr. Mantel questioned what was going on, Ms. Bucko’s infectious disease doctor simply told him that he was not allowed to write any more prescriptions for ivermectin.
Mr. Mantel was preparing to return to court for a third time, when his wife died on May 16, 2021.
Despite acknowledging in its submissions to the court that “Ms. Bucko has not responded to all the appropriate measures” and “[h]er prognosis unfortunately continues to be poor,” the hospital steadfastly opposed all efforts to treat Ms. Bucko with ivermectin, which would have given her a meaningful chance to recover and live. Coldly and callously, the hospital was resigned to letting Ms. Bucko die.
The Warshawsky Law Firm is fighting zealously for justice for Deborah Bucko, Scott Mantel, and their children.
Media Coverage:
Trial Site News (11/3/2023)
Epoch Times (11/6/2023)
Zero Hedge (11/8/2023)