Republican state lawmakers across the United States have proposed legislation that would keep the government from interfering with doctors who want to prescribe ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine to help prevent and treat Covid-19.
The bills are examples of right-wing lawmakers politicizing medicine, a trend that is increasing as the Pandemic wears on in America, despite the fact that the treatments have not proven effective at preventing or treating Covid.
It goes with the latest suspect Covid-19 treatment that has become more than just a drug, but rather about whether to trust established public health organizations or doctors who stray from their guidelines.
The politicians need to step aside and allow scientists and public health officials to make the decisions on what is beneficial in preventing and treating Covid, said an associate professor of epidemiology and infectious diseases.
The ability to take action against providers who prescribe ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine, another drug that has not been approved, is one of the things Republican lawmakers have proposed in Kansas.
Richard Hilderbrand, the chair of the committee that sponsored the legislation, said that it was up to medical professionals to decide.
The Kansas bill requires a pharmacy to write a prescription for hydroxychloroquine sulfate and ivermectin and protects them from liability if they prescribe the drugs for Covid-19.
Hilderbrand said he introduced the bill because the Kansas Board of Healing Arts was going after doctors for off-label use of medication.
According to the Washington Post, a fellow Republican state Senator disclosed during a recent hearing that the board had been investigating him over comments he made while serving as a county commissioner.
Ivermectin is used for animals but not for preventing or treating Covid.
The drug ivermectin has been promoted by a number of public figures, including comedians Joe Rogan and Tucker Carlson, as well as Fox News hosts.
In most scientists' minds, there is no evidence that ivermectin is beneficial for the prevention or treatment of Covid.
The drug doesn't work against Covid, according to Dr Michael Saag.
Even if ivermectin doesn't work, doctors can still prescribe it for off-label use.
Any physician in the United States can write a prescription for a drug that has not been approved by the FDA.
Steven Stites, the chief medical officer of the University of Kansas Health System, sees legislation in Kansas as problematic, not only because it provides doctors authority they already have, but also because it removes providers and pharmacists from liability for prescriptions of hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin.
The risk has been taken away from the doctor. Stites said that the two people who are completely trained for this type of question have now had their risk removed, so the patient holds the risk.
The Kansas state senator said that the legislation that shields doctors from liability would be removed.
Hilderbrand asked where the evidence was that the drug didn't work against Covid.
Hilderbrand said that if the doctor and patient think that is the best course of action, then they should have that opportunity.
The University of Minnesota and Duke University are conducting studies on ivermectin's ability to treat Covid.
He hopes studies show that ivermectin can be effective with Covid, but we have not seen that yet.
Paxlovid is one of the new treatments that have proven effective in treating Covid.
If the trials show that ivermectin is not effective against Covid, what will he do?
If these studies were done well, they would show that ivermectin is not an impactor.
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