From yesterday's opinion by Judge Greg Kays (W.D. Mo.) in Stock v. Gray:
This lawsuit arises from the State of Missouri enacting a law forbidding pharmacists from contacting a prescribing doctor or patient "to dispute the efficacy of ivermectin tablets or hydroxychloroquine sulfate tablets for human use" unless the doctor or patient asks the pharmacist about these drugs' efficacy first. Mo. Rev. Stat. § 338.055.7 (2022) (emphasis added). Under the law, a pharmacist who violates the statute—for example, by on her own initiative alerting a doctor or patient that the FDA has not approved either drug to treat a particular disease—may face disciplinary action, including the potential loss of her license. On the other hand, a pharmacist who on her own initiative contacts a doctor or patient to tout the efficacy of either drug for a purpose the FDA has not approved faces no such sanction….
Holding the law unconstitutionally restricts Plaintiff and other pharmacists' speech on the basis of their viewpoint [plaintiff's motion for a preliminary injunction] is GRANTED….
Plaintiff is likely to succeed on the merits because the second sentence of § 338.055.7 infringes the free speech rights of Plaintiff and other Missouri-licensed pharmacists by threatening to impose liability based on the viewpoint of their speech. The statute prohibits pharmacists from initiating contact to express a particular view, namely, a view disputing the efficacy of the drugs. It does not prohibit pharmacists from initiating contact to tout, endorse, or acclaim the drugs, thus it is taking sides in a politically charged debate about the drugs efficacy. This is viewpoint discrimination, which is fatal to the statute's constitutionality.
