Utah bill would allow pharmacies to dispense ivermectin
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A Utah GOP lawmaker is sponsoring a bill that would make ivermectin, an anti-parasitic drug widely used to treat livestock in the U.S., available at pharmacies over the counter without an individual prescription.
Why it matters: Ivermectin was promoted largely by conservatives as a "miracle" drug for COVID-19, and despite multiple medical studies that found it isn't effective at treating coronavirus, along with repeated warnings from leading medical institutions against its use outside FDA approval, it has persisted as an alternative treatment.
State of play: HB 96 is among the latest bills from hard-right Republican state Rep. Trevor Lee, who told Axios the proposal would expand medical freedom and fit with Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s "Make America Healthy Again" agenda.
- Lee said he sponsored the bill after people turned to veterinarians to obtain the medication during the pandemic.
- "There really haven't been overdoses or issues or side effects from people taking ivermectin," Lee said, likening the drug to common pain relievers such as Advil or Tylenol.
- He also argued that ivermectin has been widely misunderstood, citing podcaster Joe Rogan's defense of using the drug to treat COVID-19 in 2021.
How it works: The bill would permit doctors to preauthorize pharmacists to dispense ivermectin, allowing pharmacists to give it to patients without a patient-specific prescription.
- It also would provide legal protection from civil damages for physicians who issue standing orders for the drug and pharmacists who supply it.
Reality check: Ivermectin is not approved by the FDA to prevent or treat COVID-19.
- However, ivermectin is approved to treat certain parasitic infections in humans and is available as a topical treatment for conditions such as head lice and rosacea, per the FDA.
What they're saying: Making ivermectin available without a patient-specific prescription could have serious public health consequences, Sunil Parikh, a professor of epidemiology and infectious diseases at the Yale School of Public Health, told Axios.
- The drug is highly effective for treating parasitic infections such as onchocerciasis, commonly known as river blindness — found in tropical regions outside the U.S., he said.
Threat level: Relying on ivermectin may delay patients' access to proven treatments, raising the risk of prolonged illness.
- "It's not a benign drug," Parikh said. "The more you take, the more at risk you're going to be for adverse events."
- Common side effects include difficulty moving and muscle and joint pain, according to the Mayo Clinic. Dizziness, trouble breathing and unusual bleeding are less common adverse effects.
- Plus, the impacts of ivermectin are not widely understood for women who are in the early stages of pregnancy, Parikh said.
- During the pandemic, increased ivermectin exposure led to a spike in calls to poison control centers in multiple states.
"Unfortunately, in this day and age, it doesn't take a lot for an idea to get out there ... and it becomes really hard to put the genie back in the bottle," he said.
Utah Medical Association CEO Michelle McOmber declined to comment on Lee's proposed legislation, and the Utah Pharmacy Association did not return multiple requests for comment.
Flashback: The pharmacy association released a statement in 2021 urging health care professionals to "educate and caution patients against the use of ivermectin" to treat COVID-19 outside of a clinical study.
The big picture: At least five states have already legalized ivermectin sales without a prescription: Texas, Tennessee, Arkansas, Idaho and Louisiana.
Zoom out: A Republican lawmaker recently has introduced a similar bill in Arizona.
- "Think about how many energy drinks we drink every day. There's caffeine in coffee or vaping or smoking cigarettes, things like this, right? These are all things that you don't need a prescription to get," Arizona state Rep. Nick Kupper told Arizona's Family.
- Will Humble, executive director for the Arizona Public Health Association, told Axios the bill is "performative."
Between the lines: Under Lee's bill, a pharmacist or pharmacy intern must screen patients using a state-approved risk assessment before giving the drug to a patient. If it is deemed unsafe, the pharmacist may not dispense it.
What we're watching: Whether the bill makes it out of Utah's House Health and Human Services Committee.