Above the Law founder David Lat is put on a ventilator after COVID-19 diagnosis
Photo courtesy of David Lat.
Updated: Above the Law founder David Lat is in critical condition and has been put on a ventilator after being diagnosed with the novel coronavirus, according to a news report over the weekend.
Lat’s husband, Zachary Baron Shemtob, told the New York Law Journal that Lat was put on a ventilator late Friday or early Saturday after his oxygen levels dropped. Earlier on Friday, Lat had posted on Facebook that he was in fair condition and doing fine.
Lat, 44, is “not doing great,” Shemtob told the New York Law Journal in its March 21 story. “They’re taking it hour by hour, day by day.”
Lat is a currently a recruiter and a former ABA Journal Legal Rebel. He announced his diagnosis on social media on March 16. He is being treated at NYU Langone Hospital in Manhattan.
Shemtob said doctors have prescribed Lat the anti-malarial drug chloroquine and azithromycin to help fight the COVID-19. He is also receiving an IL 6-inhibitor to fight lung inflammation.
Lat has said he is a very healthy person who has run two New York City marathons, although he does have exercise-induced asthma. Lat and Shemtob have a 2½-year-old son.
On Wednesday, Bob Ambrogi of LawSites posted a screenshot of a Facebook message from Lat’s parents in a tweet. They reported that Shemtob is recovering at home, and that at that time Lat was still intubated in the ICU.
“It will take a while before we really see much progress but at least he is stable,” Emmanuel and Zenaida Lat wrote. “We still need a lot of prayers so please do not stop praying for him.”
This update on the health of @DavidLat was posted last night to Facebook. Still in ICU, still intubated on a ventilator, heavily sedated and receiving experimental drug treatments. Send him your prayers and healing energy. pic.twitter.com/WS6tHCpgj2
— Bob Ambrogi (@bobambrogi) March 25, 2020
Updated on March 26 at 4:45 p.m. with the latest available update on Lat’s health.
