The Washington Medical Commission has suspended the license of a primary care provider and internal medical specialist who prescribed ivermectin to at least five COVID-19 patients in Centralia in 2021 and failed to properly document justification for the prescription or involve patients in the decision-making process, according to a news release from the commission.
The Washington State Department of Health filed a statement of charges against Guito C. Wingfield on Sept. 13, 2022, accusing him of unprofessional conduct by “incompetence, negligence or malpractice which results in injury to a patient or which creates an unreasonable risk that a patient may be harmed.”
The charges clarify that “use of a nontraditional treatment by itself shall not constitute unprofessional conduct, provided that it does not result in injury to a patient or create an unreasonable risk that a patient may be harmed.”
The state Department of Health found that Wingfield failed to inform at least five COVID-19 patients that prescribing ivermectin for COVID-19 treatment was not approved by the Federal Food and Drug Administration, failed to document that discussion in the patients’ records and failed to document “sufficient rationale for prescribing the medication.”
Wingfield also did not discuss any COVID-19 treatment alternatives with his patients and did not refer patients with severe symptoms and pre-existing conditions to the hospital.
Of the five COVID-19 patients Wingfield treated between August and September 2021, one received emergency room care after their condition worsened and two ultimately required advanced hospital treatment due to COVID-19 complications.
“Despite the lack of credible evidence for treating COVID-19 using ivermectin, many medical providers prescribed ivermectin to prevent (or) treat COVID-19,” the Washington state Department of Health stated in case documents. “Prescribing the off-label use of medication like ivermectin is not, in and of itself, inappropriate or below the standard of care. However, the standard of practice requires the prescribing physician to both inform their patients and record that they have done so.”
In his response to the statement of charges, Wingfield “denied that he had committed any unprofessional conduct in treating (the five COVID-19 patients),” said he “relied on his 35 years of experience in internal medicine in his treatment of the patients” and “pointed out that none of his patients suffered harm and not one of the patients he treated filed any complaints against him here.”
A Washington Medical Commission expert disagreed with Wingfield’s response, stating that his “failure to follow evidence-based medicine standards constituted below the standard of care here” and that “because he followed essentially the same treatment regime for these patients, (Wingfield) failed to timely refer patients to the hospital for remdesivir or other alternative treatment.”
The Medical Commission issued a final order on July 19, 2023, that, among other conditions, required Wingfield to complete practice reviews with a commission-approved practice monitor. “To date, Dr. Wingfield has not completed the practice reviews,” the state Department of Health said in a news release on Tuesday, Oct. 8.
Wingfield’s license was indefinitely suspended after he failed to appear at a Sept. 25 non-compliance hearing, according to the state Department of Health.
Wingfield’s license was first issued in 2008, according to state records.
As of Wednesday morning, Wingfield was still listed as a provider at Rejuventa Medical in Centralia.
The case documents can be accessed via the state Department of Health’s online provider credential search at https://fortress.wa.gov/doh/providercredentialsearch/. Wingfield’s credential ID is MD00048810.
