Bill is a prescription for harm

Some of the worst actions taken by the State Legislature involve politicians who seem to think they know more than medical professionals.

We have another example freshly drafted in the Iowa House.

Under legislation that has cleared a House subcommittee, Iowans would be allowed to buy the medications ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine without a prescription. Currently, a subscription is needed to purchase the drugs.

The drugs have legitimate uses. Hydroxychloroquine is used in the treatment of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), discoid lupus erythematosus (DLE), rheumatoid arthritis, and malaria. Ivermectin is FDA-approved for human use as a prescription medication to treat specific parasitic infections and some skin conditions.

But during the pandemic, ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine were touted, mainly on social media, as effective treatments for COVID-19. From there, vaccine skeptics and others who buy into conspiracies about mainstream medical care are still pushing the drugs for an array of maladies, even as a cancer treatment.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Food and Drug Administration, and the World Health Organization cite studies conducted worldwide that found no evidence that ivermectin or hydroxychloroquine are effective in treating COVID. The groups don’t recommend routine use of the drugs, potentially in dangerous doses. The drugs can also cause serious side effects.

Despite all of that, the House bill would require the state’s public health medical director to issue a standing order allowing pharmacists to sell the drugs without a prescription. Doctors would be taken out of the loop entirely, and pharmacists could be forced to dispense medications they believe to be ineffective and dangerous.

“Pharmacists are not vending machines. We're licensed health care professionals whose role is to ensure medications are safe and appropriate before they reach the patient,” said Wes Pilkington, an Evansdale pharmacy owner and president of the Iowa Pharmacy Association.

Democratic Rep. Austin Baeth, a physician from Des Moines, said the bill would mandate malpractice by allowing patients to take potentially harmful drugs against the advice of their doctor.

“This is one of the most reckless, dangerous bills I have seen. I'm shocked that it even got a subcommittee. This needs to go in the trash immediately,” Baeth said.

Baeth nailed it. Shockingly, this legislation is a live round that could become law. Gov. Kim Reynolds also will have a bill expanding access to ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine.

Statehouse politicians have no business using Iowa’s public health system to require the over-the-counter sale of ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine, forcing pharmacists to sell it, and ignoring the advice of physicians trying to protect their patients’ health.

Politicians have no business stepping in to trade the judgments of medical professionals for the expertise of politicians pandering to medical skeptics. Scrap the bill.

(319) 398-8262’ editorial@thegazette.com