Pharmacists will be prohibited from undermining physicians who prescribe Ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine if Gov. Mike Parson signs into law HB 2149.
State Sen. Rick Brattin (R-Harrisonville) helped craft the legislation after he was approached by physicians.
“They were being basically hassled for prescribing these drugs,” Brattin said. “When they would prescribe them, there were pharmacies that would refuse to fill the prescriptions. It turned into a big nightmare situation for them to be able to practice their scope of practice.”
HB 2149 would modify provisions related to professional licensing.
“The issue was pharmacists questioning the prescription when doctors felt it was best for their patient but this doesn't prohibit pharmacists from making sure that it’s not going to have adverse reactions or mixed effects with other medications,” Brattin told the St. Louis Record. “The doctor is the doctor, not vice versa, and that's the scenario that it turned into throughout the state.”
As previously reported, Ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine became politicized treatments for COVID-19 under President Trump's administration.
“We saw nationally the attack that came to doctors trying to prescribe these two medications,” Brattin said. “They were singled out. It's unfortunate that a drug that has been prescribed millions of times and won Nobel Peace prizes all of a sudden gets reduced to being called 'horse medicine' when many physicians through their professional opinion saw great results from the prescribing of these."
Under the law, a state licensing board would also be prohibited from disciplining physicians who prescribe the drugs.
“It has to do with the Board of Healing Arts,” Brattin added. “I was on a conference call with several doctors and on that call, they were saying people were turning them in for prescribing these medications and they felt the fear that if they did what they thought was right in their professional opinion, they could potentially lose their ability to practice. That's why it fell under the scope of the bill that it did.”
Brattin compared the struggle of physicians prescribing Ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine to the current baby formula crisis.
"Honestly, we have a shortage because the government stepped in and created a situation where now people are suffering because we can't even get enough baby formula and it's that same step in terms of healthcare," he said. "If these prescriptions are really helping people, the last thing we need is the government stepping in the way and screwing it up."