As more and more judges ponder the merits of an off-patent drug with a purported ability to treat COVID-19, some health care lawyers are worried about a future where courts are ready to second-guess physicians whose patients don't get what they want.

Courts across the country have been ordering hospitals to allow COVID-19 patients to undergo treatment with Ivermectin, overruling the hospital's protests and arguments about standards of care that exclude the drug. They have issued orders mandating Ivermectin treatment, even though the Food and Drug Administration, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the World Health Organization and the American Medical Association have warned against using it to treat COVID-19.