LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (KNWA/KFTA) — A judge denied a request to dismiss a case involving former inmates at the Washington County Detention Center who were given ivermectin and will now move forward to trial.

In 2022, the ACLU filed a federal lawsuit against WCDC, Washington County Sheriff Tim Helder and Dr. Robert Karas and Karas Correctional Health. The lawsuit charges the defendants for giving ivermectin to inmates without prior informed consent as to the nature, contents, or potential side effects of the drug.

U.S. District Judge Timothy Brooks’ order denying the defendant’s request for dismissal outlines the rationale behind the decision.

“Thomas Fritch, for example, was dosed without his knowledge with 2.75 times the amount of ivermectin required to treat a parasitic infestation, Edrick Floreal-Wooten was secretly dosed with 3.4 times the approved dosage of ivermectin, and Dayman Blackburn was dosed with 6.3 times the approved dosage. Again, these Plaintiffs were suffering from COVID-19, not parasites,” the order states.

“They [the defendants] contend that because Plaintiffs voluntarily swallowed the pills they were given in the WCDC to treat COVID-19, they were not ‘forced’ to take ivermectin. This argument is absurd,” the order continues.

According to a press release from the ACLU, plaintiffs in the case include Edrick Floreal-Wooten, Jeremiah Little, Julio Gonzales, Thomas Fritch and Dayman Blackburn.

The release says they allege they were deceived over a period of days and possibly weeks, regarding an unknown dose of Ivermectin.