By the time House Bill (HB) 2149 appeared on the Missouri Pharmacy Association (MPA)’s radar, it was already speeding towards passage, according to the Jefferson City-based trade association.
“We weren't able to derail it other than we did get some changes in the language that we feel comfortable with,” said Ron Fitzwater, CEO of the MPA in Jefferson City.
As previously reported in the St. Louis Record, when doctors prescribed Ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine, there were pharmacies that would refuse to fill the prescriptions, which restricted their ability to work within their scope of practice but if Gov. Mike Parson signs HB 2149 into law, pharmacists statewide will be prohibited from undermining physicians who prescribe Ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine.
“We were not happy with the language, but we all had to live with it,” Fitzwater told the St. Louis Record. “This was done so late in the process; it was done through an amendment, and we were just scrambling.”
The Missouri Pharmacy Association worked with representatives from the Missouri Board of Pharmacy and Gov. Parson’s office on the amendment that was part of HB 2149, which lawmakers approved and delivered to Parson’s office on May 18.
“Fortunately, we had a mechanism where we could slow it down,” Fitzwater said. “They allowed us to get language in that didn't violate the Pharmacy Practice Act because the Board of Pharmacy would have come out heavy against it and the bill would have probably been unconstitutional.”
The Pharmacy Practice Act establishes procedures for pharmaceutical care services.
The Missouri Pharmacy Association is made up of 1,800 pharmacists, first-year practice members, pharmacy students, and some technicians but they are divided over the approval of HB 2149, according to Fitzwater.
“We've gotten a lot of nasty comments," he said. "What they were trying to get to in the language of the bill is we had people on one side who didn't think anybody ought to have Ivermectin and called it horse medicine. They were calling up physicians and just railing on them for writing the scripts. We don't condone that either. The physician or trained professionals obviously were prescribing human versions of Ivermectin and doing what they thought was appropriate."
HB 2149 also prohibits a state licensing board from disciplining physicians who prescribe the drugs, but it does not, however, prevent pharmacists from discussing potential adverse reactions or mixed effects with other medications.
"If they had a prescription for Ivermectin and they were concerned that there were complications or something that would counteract other drugs that they are on, pharmacists still have the ability to discuss with physicians and do what's appropriate for the patient," Fitzwater added. "The language that was originally proposed and the language that is currently in the bill is not much clearer, but at least it keeps that pharmacist-patient-physician relationship intact for a specific patient."