KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Missouri Gov. Mike Parson on Tuesday signed into law a bill that bars pharmacists from questioning doctors who prescribe the controversial off-label drugs ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine.
The measure, which passed in the General Assembly last month, was attached to a bill that exempts military employees and contractors participating in a federal training program from licensing requirements if they hold licensing in another state. Parson’s office announced his signing of the legislation along with six other bills Tuesday.
The new law, which goes into effect in August, prevents state medical licensing boards from punishing or taking away the medical licenses of doctors who “lawfully” prescribe the two drugs. And it prevents pharmacists from contacting a doctor or patient “to dispute the efficacy of ivermectin tablets or hydroxychloroquine sulfate tablets for human use” unless the doctor or patient asks about the drugs’ effectiveness.
Sen. Rick Brattin, a Harrisonville Republican who is running running for Missouri’s 4th District in Congress, previously told The Star he added the language regarding ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine after he spoke with doctors who worried they would lose their medical licenses for prescribing the drugs.
Brattin, who said he previously bought ivermectin for COVID-19 but has never taken it, described the drug as “politicized.”
“Unfortunately, because of the politicization of those two drugs, (doctors are) being targeted,” he said. “I wanted to protect them from that.”
After the bill passed both chambers of the legislature, it drew swift criticism on social media from people who pointed to the fact that the Food and Drug Administration has not approved ivermectin for treating COVID-19. The drug is authorized for humans to treat infections caused by parasitic worms, head lice and skin conditions like rosacea.
The agency has received multiple reports of people who have been hospitalized after taking ivermectin intended for livestock, according to its website.
Rep. Patty Lewis, a Kansas City Democrat who served on the committee that handled the bill, previously told The Star that Democrats agreed to the language in the bill to satisfy a group of hard-right conservatives in the Senate.
Brattin is aligned with the Senate’s hard-right Conservative Caucus that filibustered and derailed debates throughout the session in the hopes of passing strict conservative legislation.
Lewis said the parts of the bill relating to the two drugs will not change anything in the medical community. She said medical licensing boards already would not punish a doctor for prescribing a drug lawfully.
“This language, with a few buzzwords, is to keep some difficult, obstinate, conservative senators quiet,” she said. “It’s not necessary, it’s not needed. It’s ‘do nothing’ language only to make sure the bill does not fail in the Senate.”
