Ivermectin will soon be available without a prescription in Tennessee. Both the state House and Senate have given final approval to the bill intended to make the anti-parasitic more easily available to treat COVID, despite a growing body of research that finds no benefit.
Democrats noted that some people have shown up to emergency rooms after taking too much ivermectin, often because they purchased the de-worming medication meant for livestock.
The sponsor of SB2188, Sen. Frank Nicelely of Strawberry Plains, said no matter what people believe about ivermectin, his bill should improve safety.
“It’s a lot safer to go to your pharmacist and let him tell you how much ivermectin to take than it is to go to the co-op and guess what size horse you are,” he said.
More: As constituents clamor for ivermectin, Republican politicians embrace their cause
By late summer of 2021, outpatient prescriptions for ivermectin jumped 24-fold, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was warning the public against using formulations found in feed stores. Since then, there’s been a growing body of evidence that ivermectin does not work against COVID, including a double-blind, randomized trial published March 30 in the New England Journal of Medicine.
Even the maker of the drug, Merck, has warned against using it for COVID treatment.
The lone Republican to raise questions and vote no was Sen. Richard Briggs, a surgeon from Knoxville, who said he may have a “pro-science bias.” He said he wasn’t too concerned about people overdosing on ivermectin, given that it’s been taken by hundreds of thousands of people in Africa to treat parasitic infections. But he didn’t want the public to get the idea that ivermectin could help treat COVID when there are proven antivirals readily available.
“Quite frankly, I think the science of this shows you’re taking a sugar pill,” Briggs said. “If we had nothing to offer, I think it would be fine to go on and do this.”
Still, Republicans were nearly unanimous in their support in both the House and Senate. Even the pharmacists in the General Assembly, including Senate Speaker Randy McNally, voted in favor.
Once signed by Gov. Bill Lee, the law will take effect immediately, though the Board of Pharmacy does have to create some processes. Not every pharmacy has to dispense ivermectin under the law. Those that do will have a standing, non-patient-specific prescription, similar to how they dispense naloxone. The bill also shields pharmacists from any liability that could arise from dispensing ivermectin.
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