The North Carolina House of Representatives is prepared to pass legislation to make ivermectin available over the counter following national controversy regarding the drug during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Ivermectin Access Act passed both the House Judiciary 3 Committee and the House Rules Committee on Tuesday, the final steps before the bill can go to the House floor for a full chamber vote.
“This bill would allow pharmacists to dispense ivermectin without a prescription,” said Rep. Jonathan Almond, R-Cabarrus. “Ivermectin has been around. It’s a safe, affordable drug. It was discovered in the 1970s. It was approved for human use in 1987. Fifty billion doses have been given worldwide.”
Almond added that acetaminophen, the active ingredient in Tylenol, causes more emergency room visits, hospitalizations, and deaths annually than ivermectin. Ivermectin has been regarded as a “wonder drug” and is today used as an anti-parasitic agent, an anticancer agent, and more. Its developers won the Nobel Prize in 2015.
The act would enable pharmacists to dispense ivermectin over the counter similar to the way certain medications like sudafredryn and contraception are dispensed for dosing and counseling purposes.
“It would work very similar to that,” said Rep. Heather Rhyne, R-Lincoln, a pharmacist. “And I would add, it would probably be a safer avenue to get this drug than how people are currently getting it.”
Rhyne alluded to the fact that veterinary formulations—typically much more concentrated— of ivermectin are available at animal supply stores. During the Covid-19 pandemic, many sought the drug from such stores as a treatment option following viral reports of its efficacy and successful use by notable celebrities.
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The controversy emerged as public health officials denounced its use, despite evidence of safe and effective human formulations of it for COVID and other conditions. The FDA settled a lawsuit last year over its social media posts against ivermectin.
North Carolina is one of four states that have an ivermectin bill going through right now, and three states have already made it legal over the counter.
The post Bill authorizing ivermectin over-the-counter in NC heads to House floor first appeared on Carolina Journal.