This file photo shows a crowd supporting Taste of Sicily's defiance of Gov. Tom Wolf's reopening plan early in the pandemic.
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Complaints of Lebanon County restaurant being used as conduit for unproven COVID-19 treatments referred to AG
Lebanon County District Attorney Pier Hess Graff said her office received multiple complaints.
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David Wenner/PennLive
PennLive Photo
This file photo shows a crowd supporting Taste of Sicily's defiance of Gov. Tom Wolf's reopening plan early in the pandemic.
Complaints that a woman is apparently using the Facebook page of a Palmyra pizza restaurant to connect people to unproven COVID-19 treatments have been turned over to the state Attorney General.
Lebanon County District Attorney Pier Hess Graff said her office received multiple complaints on Monday and learned local police also received complaints referencing the Taste of Sicily restaurant.
“Police indicated they received complaints, and a preliminary investigation showed allegations of misconduct which potentially spanned multiple counties,” she said in a written statement.
Hess Graff said she referred the matter to the state Attorney General’s Office, which she said is the appropriate agency to investigate allegations involving multiple counties. A spokesman for the Attorney General’s Office said she could not confirm or deny the office’s involvement.
The complaints have to do with Christine Mason, who posted videos on Taste of Sicily’s Facebook page in which she described a process for connecting people to a physician who could prescribe medications she referred to as “H” or “I.”
People who interacted with her on social media referred to the medications as ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine.
Ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine are government-approved drugs, but they aren’t approved for treating or preventing COVID-19. However, some people, including those who deny the benefits of COVID-19 vaccine and approved treatments, have promoted them for use against COVID-19.
The federal government has advised people not to use the medications for treating COVID-19, and warned inappropriate dosages can be harmful.
In a video recently posted on Taste of Sicily’s Facebook page, Mason tells viewers the medications are being provided by a Wyomissing, Pa. surgeon who she said she couldn’t name.
“We flooded the place but just be patient,” she says in the video.
She told viewers “you will absolutely get what you ask for.”
FOX43 reported Tuesday that Mason’s mother is the owner of Taste of Sicily and that, according to the mother, Mason hasn’t worked there since last summer but controls its Facebook page.
Attempts to reach Mason through the restaurant and its Facebook page were unsuccessful as of late Tuesday afternoon.
However, in a Facebook Live post on Tuesday afternoon Mason referred to the investigation, saying “You can’t go to jail if you’ve done nothing wrong.” She further denied “selling medicine out of the Taste of Sicily.”
Doctors can legally prescribe drugs such as ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine for “off-label” purposes different than what they are approved for.
However, doctors can run into legal problems if the patient suffers harm from the prescription.
The Pennsylvania Department of State, which licenses and disciplines doctors, said in a written statement Tuesday: “Physicians should consider whether prescribing these drugs ‘off-label’ for the treatment of Covid-19 falls within the standards of acceptable and prevailing medical practice in each case. If not, doing so could constitute unprofessional conduct.”
In recent months, multiple states including Pennsylvania have seen proposed bills that would enable doctors to provide ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine to people who lack a positive test or known exposure to COVID-19, and would protect doctors from discipline by licensing boards.
The Pennsylvania bill, introduced by Republican state Rep. Dawn Keefer of York County, sits in a House committee.
The bills have typically been introduced by Republicans who are skeptical of approved COVID-19 vaccines and treatments as well as the overall response to COVID-19.
Mason in a Facebook post early Tuesday said “there are rumors of me possibly getting in trouble because I am helping people… I won’t say what because these freaks have absolutely no life and watch this page like a hawk.”
She vowed she would “never, ever back down” and further urged doctors to break the law if necessary.
Of the doctor purportedly providing access to the drugs, she said, “This doctor is a hero. There aren’t many like that.”
Taste of Sicily previously received attention for defying the statewide pandemic reopening plan early in the pandemic.
A post that appeared Tuesday afternoon on Taste of Sicily’s Facebook page says “The next level of the battle is here!!”
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