Kansas legislators opted Monday to remove a provision limiting the Board of Healing Arts from investigating doctors for prescribing treatments off-label, such as ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine. At the same time, Sen. Mark Steffen, R-Hutchinson, is under investigation by the agency. Steffen is an anesthesiologist and proponent of ivermectin and a COVID-19 vaccine skeptic.
Some are willing to consider a standalone provision, however. Rep. Troy Waymaster, R-Bunker Hill, chair of the House Appropriations Committee, said, “This does not belong in a budget bill.”
So, legislators haven’t given up on the idea. Tuesday morning, the Senate Public Health and Welfare Committee approved a “gut and go” version of Senate Bill 381, “allowing for the prescribing and dispensing of medications for off-label use to prevent and treat COVID-19 infections.”
At least in the original version, the act states a prescriber may prescribe, and a pharmacist shall dispense, a prescription drug approved by the USDA, including, but not limited to, hydroxychloroquine sulfate and ivermectin, for an off-label use to prevent or treat COVID-19 infection. The prescriber or pharmacist shall be immune from civil liability for doing so.
Off-label prescribing is legal and even common in the United States. Doctors can prescribe FDA-approved medications for purposes that are not on the label if they feel that it is appropriate and beneficial for the patient. For example, Prazosin is approved for the treatment of hypertension, but it is also being used to treat post-traumatic stress disorder.
That doesn’t mean all off-label prescribing is good. KU infectious disease specialist Dana Hawkinson, for one, said reputable studies show no benefit from ivermectin or hydroxychloroquine for treating or preventing COVID-19. So, while Steffen claims the Board of Healing Arts investigation is a political maneuver that prevents him from acting on behalf of a patient, the Board’s representatives suggest this bill would block its mission of protecting the public.
Misinformation, myths and outright lies about the COVID-19 vaccine and COVID precautions cause great harm. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advises that getting vaccinated against COVID-19 can lower your risk of getting and spreading the virus that causes COVID-19. Vaccines can also help prevent serious illness and death. The Kansas Department of Health and Environment, on Sept. 1, 2021, urged Kansans not to take Ivermectin for COVID-19. “An ivermectin overdose includes gastrointestinal symptoms such as nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. Overdoses are associated with hypotension and neurologic effects such as decreased consciousness, confusion, hallucinations, seizures, coma, and death.”
It is true that the Sept. 1 statement did not advise physicians against prescribing it, however. Maybe that’s something the Board of Healing Arts should be able to investigate.
