Local GOP senator credits ivermectin for treating his cancer, wants it available over-the-counter

That protocol, according to the bill, would include a standardized fact-sheet handed to the customer describing ivermectin’s appropriate use methods and any other information required by the Ohio Board of Pharmacy.

S.B. 249 would require participating pharmacies to either dispense ivermectin “as soon as practical” or to refer the customer to a different pharmacy that can fill the order. The bill sets a minimum age limit of 18 years old. The rest of the stipulations would be set by the pharmacy board.

Lang told the Dayton Daily News he hopes his bill makes ivermectin an over-the-counter option in Ohio.

Credit: Nick Graham

Credit: Nick Graham

“The effect, to keep it simple, would be (that) anybody that wanted to purchase ivermectin ... would be able to go their local pharmacy and buy ivermectin, just like they can go buy Tylenol and/or Imodium today,” Lang said.

The drug, used traditionally to treat or prevent parasites in animals, has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for limited use in humans, including tablets to treat parasitic worms and topical creams to treat head lice or rosacea. The drug became a household name during the coronavirus pandemic after claims of its efficacy for treating COVID-19 circulated, which the FDA has not signed off on.

Some doctors, like Lang’s oncologist, have been prescribing it for cancer. Lang, testifying before the Senate Health Committee last week, said ivermectin and another anti-parasitic drug are the two primary medications he’s taken throughout his cancer treatment, describing it as a non-traditional, “metabolic” approach to treating his disease.

Two months into taking ivermectin supplied by a Canadian pharmacy, Lang said, he was told that he’d need to get the drug locally, as the out-of-country pharmacy ran out. His local doctor called in the prescription to a major chain near him, which informed him that they could not fill his prescription because they “do not recognize (ivermectin) as a protocol for cancer.”

The pharmacy ended up filling his prescription once, Lang said. He then found another major chain near him that would fill his prescription, but that pharmacy eventually stopped filling the prescription, telling Lang that the pharmacy’s corporate offices would no longer allow it.

“Imagine how frustrating that would be,” Lang said. “I don’t think any pharmacy should get in between what (a doctor) and their patients believe to be the best protocol or the best plan for them to follow.”

Lang is joined on the bill by Sen. Terry Johnson, R-McDermott, a retired doctor who vice chairs the Senate Health Committee. He testified last week touting ivermectin as a potential, under-utilized tool that could help against cancer and other diseases that pose serious problems for America.

“Doctors have always reached out for what seems to work if it’s not going to hurt someone,” Johnson said, voicing frustration with the scrutiny aimed at ivermectin during the pandemic.

“We see the same thing with cancer,” Johnson said. “On the other hand, there are a lot of oncologists that are looking at this with an open mind and realizing, ‘Hey, if it works, why not?’”

Another doctor on the committee, Sen. Beth Liston, D-Dublin, said that there has not been extensive human-use studies on the ivermectin and raised concerns about a person’s ability to give informed consent regarding a drug that isn’t fully vetted by professionals.

Liston also asked whether the sponsors had spoken to pharmacists about the bill, to which they said no. Johnson did add that S.B. 249 contains immunity clauses that would protect pharmacists and prescribers from civil damages, criminal prosecution, or disciplinary action for ivermectin-related damages, so long as they were acting in good faith.

In an interview with the Dayton Daily News, Ohio Pharmacist Association CEO Sara Kilpatrick told this outlet that her group has not yet taken a position on the bill.

“What we’d like to get across is that pharmacists are medication experts, and our priority in any medication access model is ensuring that drugs are used safely and appropriately,” she said. “We certainly look forward to having more conversations with members of the general assembly if they intend to advance the bill.”

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Avery Kreemer can be reached at 614-981-1422, on X, via email, or you can drop him a comment/tip with the survey below.