After Concerted Effort to Bury Ivermectin, New Bill Would Put This Medicine in the Hands of the American People
Hooray for the Republican legislators in the New Hampshire House of Representatives for striking a blow for medical freedom Thursday when they voted to make it easier for people to obtain ivermectin.
In a 183-159 vote, the House approved legislation permitting pharmacists to dispense ivermectin to treat COVID-19 and other sicknesses via standing order.
GOP Rep. Leah Cushman, the primary sponsor of the bill, explained, “A standing order is a prescriptive protocol written by a physician or nurse practitioner that allows a pharmacist to dispense a medication without an individual prescription,” WMUR-TV reported.
One of the most bizarre aspects about the whole COVID-19 pandemic is how Democrats and the medical establishment in D.C. have come out so strongly against the use of medications that doctors have found effective in treating the sickness.
“Because of this politicization, doctors are afraid to prescribe and pharmacies are afraid to dispense,” Cushman noted.
It seems we have at least moved beyond the stage of calling ivermectin a horse dewormer, as was the case with CNN and others when podcaster Joe Rogan said he had taken the drug last summer as part of his COVID-19 treatment regimen.
It is an anti-parasitic drug used in animals, but it is also employed widely by people to treat a variety of illnesses.
The Associated Press reported last month there are multiple studies ongoing seeking to determine how effective ivermectin is in treating COVID-19.
Pre-clinical research done in Japan found ivermectin does have an “antiviral effect” against COVID.
Another study published on the National Institute of Health’s website last month found that ivermectin in combination with the antibiotic doxycycline, zinc and vitamins D and C proved highly effective at preventing hospitalization and death.
However, a study of COVID-19 patients in Malaysia and published in JAMA Internal Medicine in February determined the drug did not reduce the risk of developing severe disease.
Duke University School of Medicine in partnership with Vanderbilt University is currently conducting a clinical trial on the efficacy of ivermectin.
“There were some early studies that showed that it could potentially be helpful with COVID-19, but they were not large enough to be definitive,” Adrian Hernandez, MD, one of the study leaders and a cardiologist at Duke University, told The News & Observer, according to WebMD.
The Food and Drug Administration has not authorized the use of ivermectin to treat COVID, saying there currently isn’t the data available to support it.
The agency does advise, “If your health care provider writes you an ivermectin prescription, fill it through a legitimate source such as a pharmacy, and take it exactly as prescribed.”
They also cautioned against taking medicine designed for animals.
PennLive reported this week a Pennsylvania state House committee has recently approved a bill that would make it easier to prescribe ivermectin and other “off-label” medications to treat COVID.
In January, GOP Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin chaired a panel discussion with multiple doctors and medical experts to review the United States’ coronavirus policies and treatments.
One common theme that arose during the discussion on Capitol Hill was the failure to promote early, effective treatment protocols.
“Until COVID, a fundamental principle of medicine was early detection allowed for early treatment, which produced better results,” Johnson said.
“Two years into the pandemic, the compassionless guideline from the [National Institutes of Health] if you test positive is to essentially do nothing. Go home. Isolate yourself in fear, and pray you don’t require hospitalization,” he added.
Dr. Richard Urso, an ophthalmologist practicing in the Houston area with a background in virus research, explained that he found himself drawn into treating COVID patients simply because the need was there.
Urso pointed out that the coronavirus infection is marked by three conditions, all of which are treatable: respiratory distress, blood clotting and inflammation.
He initially prescribed hydroxychloroquine, azithromycin, vitamin D, aspirin and steroids. “These are just strategies that don’t take a lot of thinking as a physician,” Urso said.
“I’ve treated over 1,600 patients because patients were languishing at home with no treatment for inflammation, with no treatment for respiratory distress, with no treatment for blood clotting. It was absolutely absurd, and I wasn’t going to let it happen,” he added.
Dr. Mary Bowden, an ear, nose and throat specialist also practicing in Houston, told the panel that she has successfully treated over 2,000 patients following the Front Line COVID-19 Critical Care Alliance protocols.
These involve the use of ivermectin, povidone-iodine nasal spray, hydroxychloroquine, vitamins C and D, zinc, melatonin, curcumin (turmeric), the antibiotic azithromycin, fluvoxamine, the anti-viral Remdesivir, corticosteroids and monoclonal antibodies, among other treatments, depending on the severity and stage of the illness.
It’s time to take politics out of COVID treatment, and out of the whole pandemic response, for that matter.
Doctors should be free to prescribe and Americans should be free to take ivermectin or other drugs believed to be effective in treating COVID.
It’s great to see states like New Hampshire standing up for medical freedom!
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