Controversial Antiparasitic Drug To Be Sold Over-The-Counter In Tennessee

Image Credit: Bundesministerium für Finanzen / CC

The Tennessee Conservative [By Paula Gomes] –

A set of bills sponsored by Representative Susan Lynn (R-Mount Juliet-District 57) in the House and Senator Frank Niceley (R-Strawberry Plains-District 8) in the Senate has passed that will allow Ivermectin to be sold over-the-counter in Tennessee without a prescription. The legislation authorizes a version of the drug that is suitable for human use to be provided by a pharmacist to patients who are 18 years of age or older pursuant to a valid collaborative pharmacy practice agreement. Pharmacists will also be immune from disciplinary or adverse administrative actions for supplying Ivermectin.

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Senator Rusty Crowe (R-Johnson City-District 3), one of the co-sponsors of the Senate bill said, “Ivermectin is one of the many therapeutic options… that have proven to be effective in the treatment of COVID-19. This bill will provide for a safe and effective way for patients to quickly access Ivermectin over the counter and under supervision of their pharmacists and the physician with whom the pharmacists have their collaborative agreement.”

America’s Front Line Doctors (AFLDS) has been recommending Ivermectin as a safe and effective therapy for many months. In a statement on their website, AFLDS states, “We do not suggest that Ivermectin is a cure for COVID-19 or can absolutely prevent an individual from contracting the virus. However, in study after study, Ivermectin has been associated with improved health outcomes in both COVID-symptomatic patients and those using the drug as a preventive therapy.”

About those studies AFLDS had this to say:

Many studies have consistently attested to the viability of Ivermectin’s use in treating COVID-infected patients. There is parallel evidence to also recommend the drug’s use as a preventative. For example, Dr. Pierre Kory, in testimony before the Senate Homeland Security Committee on December 8, 2020, pointed to positive findings of an October 2020 clinical study in Argentina which tested the effectiveness of Ivermectin for the prevention and treatment of COVID-19. The randomized clinical trial (RCT) found that Ivermectin inhibits replication of SARS-CoV-2, the strain of coronavirus that causes COVID-19. Eight-hundred healthcare workers were administered Ivermectin as a preventative medication and none contracted SARS-CoV-2. Among the additional 400 healthcare workers that were not treated with Ivermectin, 237 individuals, or 58% of the group, were infected with the virus. “These are statistically significant, large magnitude results if you take ivermectin. It is proving to be a wonder drug and it is critical for its use in this disease,” Dr. Kory said of the study. Moreover, in the 19 randomized control trials published to date, Ivermectin use resulted in positive effects, including decreased time of virus shedding, length of hospital stays, as well as lower mortality. Among all 37 published studies using Ivermectin either as early treatment or prophylaxis, 100% reported positive results, with prophylaxis showing 90% improvement in the experimental groups. “Prophylaxis” refers to taking a regular regimen of medication before becoming sick. Even in a recent limited study published in The Lancet, researchers found “a reduction in the self-reported anosmia/hyposmia and a (non-statistically significant) tendency to lower viral loads and lower IgG titers which presumably reflect milder disease” and “The positive signal found in this pilot together with emerging evidence from animal models and other clinical trials warrants the conduction of larger trials using ivermectin for the early treatment of COVID-19.”

About the Author: Paula Gomes is a Tennessee resident and reporter for The Tennessee Conservative. You can reach Paula at paula@tennesseeconservativenews.com.