Oakland Zoo Helps Save Man’s Life

Thanks NBC Bay Area for sharing the news about Oakland Zoo’s lifesaving efforts.

Thanks to Oakland Zoo’s quick action to an unusual email, an elderly man’s life was saved.

Dr. Colin Feeney’s, Director of the Medical Intensive Care Unit at Alameda Health System Highland Hospital, was in urgent need of ivermectin, a potent antibiotic for his patient, who was suffering from a rare parasite.

The medicine is currently only approved for humans in pill form, but unfortunately, the patient’s intestines had already stopped functioning, so only an injectable version of the medicine would work.

Thankfully, Dr. Feeney thought outside the box, and sent off an email to the Oakland Zoo with subject line “Emergency” to see if they had ivermectin, as an injectable version is only available for use on animals.

Thanks to the quick action of Oakland Zoo’s staff, the medicine was passed off to Dr. Feeney as he drove by in his car within hours. Best of all, this story has a happy ending. The patient survived.

Read the full story at NBC Bay Area.