Iowa lawmakers are considering a bill that would change how some prescription drugs are dispensed, allowing Iowa adults to obtain them without seeing a doctor.Supporters say the proposal is about personal freedom and undoing government overreach from the pandemic. Some doctors warn it could remove critical safeguards meant to protect patients from harm.House File 2056 would make it significantly easier for Iowans to get ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine, two drugs that became the center of heated debate during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Food and Drug Administration has said the drugs are not effective in treating or preventing COVID-19, though both have other approved uses. According to the FDA, ivermectin tablets are approved to treat some parasitic worms and are also used in topical treatments for head lice and certain skin conditions like rosacea. Hydroxychloroquine is approved to treat or prevent malaria and other autoimmune diseases like lupus and arthritis.“The fact that this bill was even written and submitted is just frightening to me,” said Dr. Louis Katz, who has spent decades working as an infectious disease specialist. » More coverage of Iowa legislative sessionKatz says both medications can carry serious side effects and should not be taken without medical guidance.“Drugs can be used off-label, but that needs to be a face-to-face discussion with a physician that knows about the drugs,” he said.Under the bill, Iowa’s public health medical director would be required to sign a standing order allowing pharmacists to dispense ivermectin or hydroxychloroquine to any adult who requests them. Pharmacists would be required to read the manufacturer’s label instructions when dispensing the drug. The bill would not require a medical exam or screening, and pharmacists would not be allowed to keep a record of the encounter. Katz says that setup could put both patients and state officials in a difficult position.“This is like asking the medical director of the state health department, potentially to commit malpractice by allowing over his signature, a drug to be prescribed unsafely,” Katz said. “This is just totally inappropriate.”The bill would also shield pharmacists and the state’s medical director from criminal and civil liability tied to dispensing the drugs.One of the bill’s sponsors, Republican State Representative Charley Thomson, says the proposal is aimed at “advancing liberty interest of Iowans.” He says it was drafted in response to “government overreach” during the pandemic, when these products were restricted, and that the bill is meant to “keep it from happening again.”KCCI reached out to the other two Republican lawmakers sponsoring the bill, but did not immediately hear back.Former Republican state senator and emergency medicine physician Dr. David Hartsuch agrees the drugs should not be restricted. He previously fought the Iowa Board of Medicine in an attempt to prescribe his patients ivermectin to treat COVID-19. However, he says doctors should still be the ones deciding whether the drugs are appropriate for individual patients.“The state merely saying, ‘Oh yeah, let’s go ahead and do it’ does not take into account interactions of drugs and possible negative effects on health,” Hartsuch said.Hartsuch said that he believes the drugs can be a beneficial treatment option as well, but said “it’s wise” for the drugs to require a prescription.”Hydroxychloroquine can bump your liver function. And in fact, if in large amounts, you can end up with liver failure or something like that,” Hartsuch said. “And ivermectin also has side effects as well, neurologic problems, etc.” Iowans will be able to weigh in on the bill during a public subcommittee hearing scheduled for Tuesday at 12:15 p.m. in Room 304 at the Statehouse.Gov. Kim Reynolds has said allowing access to ivermectin without a prescription is also a top priority for her this legislative session, though she has not yet released her own proposal.
Iowa lawmakers are considering a bill that would change how some prescription drugs are dispensed, allowing Iowa adults to obtain them without seeing a doctor.
Supporters say the proposal is about personal freedom and undoing government overreach from the pandemic. Some doctors warn it could remove critical safeguards meant to protect patients from harm.
House File 2056 would make it significantly easier for Iowans to get ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine, two drugs that became the center of heated debate during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Food and Drug Administration has said the drugs are not effective in treating or preventing COVID-19, though both have other approved uses.
According to the FDA, ivermectin tablets are approved to treat some parasitic worms and are also used in topical treatments for head lice and certain skin conditions like rosacea. Hydroxychloroquine is approved to treat or prevent malaria and other autoimmune diseases like lupus and arthritis.
“The fact that this bill was even written and submitted is just frightening to me,” said Dr. Louis Katz, who has spent decades working as an infectious disease specialist.
» More coverage of Iowa legislative session
Katz says both medications can carry serious side effects and should not be taken without medical guidance.
“Drugs can be used off-label, but that needs to be a face-to-face discussion with a physician that knows about the drugs,” he said.
Under the bill, Iowa’s public health medical director would be required to sign a standing order allowing pharmacists to dispense ivermectin or hydroxychloroquine to any adult who requests them.
Pharmacists would be required to read the manufacturer’s label instructions when dispensing the drug. The bill would not require a medical exam or screening, and pharmacists would not be allowed to keep a record of the encounter.
Katz says that setup could put both patients and state officials in a difficult position.
“This is like asking the medical director of the state health department, potentially to commit malpractice by allowing over his signature, a drug to be prescribed unsafely,” Katz said. “This is just totally inappropriate.”
The bill would also shield pharmacists and the state’s medical director from criminal and civil liability tied to dispensing the drugs.
One of the bill’s sponsors, Republican State Representative Charley Thomson, says the proposal is aimed at “advancing liberty interest of Iowans.” He says it was drafted in response to “government overreach” during the pandemic, when these products were restricted, and that the bill is meant to “keep it from happening again.”
KCCI reached out to the other two Republican lawmakers sponsoring the bill, but did not immediately hear back.
Former Republican state senator and emergency medicine physician Dr. David Hartsuch agrees the drugs should not be restricted. He previously fought the Iowa Board of Medicine in an attempt to prescribe his patients ivermectin to treat COVID-19.
However, he says doctors should still be the ones deciding whether the drugs are appropriate for individual patients.
“The state merely saying, ‘Oh yeah, let’s go ahead and do it’ does not take into account interactions of drugs and possible negative effects on health,” Hartsuch said.
Hartsuch said that he believes the drugs can be a beneficial treatment option as well, but said “it’s wise” for the drugs to require a prescription.
“Hydroxychloroquine can bump your liver function. And in fact, if in large amounts, you can end up with liver failure or something like that,” Hartsuch said. “And ivermectin also has side effects as well, neurologic problems, etc.”
Iowans will be able to weigh in on the bill during a public subcommittee hearing scheduled for Tuesday at 12:15 p.m. in Room 304 at the Statehouse.
Gov. Kim Reynolds has said allowing access to ivermectin without a prescription is also a top priority for her this legislative session, though she has not yet released her own proposal.