If the governor signs the bill to law, Idaho will become one of the few states that allow Ivermectin to be sold without a prescription.
Idaho is set to become the newest state in the United States to allow the anti-parasitic drug Ivermectin to be sold without a prescription after the state legislature passes the measure.
Senate Bill 1211 was easily approved by the state legislature on April 4th, delivering the same day to Governor Brad Little’s desk.
According to the text, the bill “added to existing laws to provide that ivermectin can be sold or purchased without prescriptions or consultation with a medical professional” means that it can be sold at the counter.
The bill passed 29–9 in the state Senate and 66–1 in the House.
He has little comment on whether he will sign the bill. The Epoch Times contacted the governor’s office for comments on Sunday.
Republican Sen. Tammy Nichols presented the bill on the floor on April 3rd. “We don’t require use, we don’t prescribe treatment, we don’t require it to be sold,” Nichols told KTVB-7. “What we’re doing with this bill is simple. It removes barriers.”
Senate Speaker Kelly Anson, a Republican to the Senate Speaker, who co-sponsored the bill, said the drug has a wide range of uses.
“It’s a drug that has had a very immeasurable impact on improving the lives of billions of people around the world since it was discovered. It’s called a phenomenal drug in many places,” Anson told Senator Camera’s Idaho Senate Committee last week. “It was able to treat parasites, human insects, and in most countries it was legal through counters, and in many ways we could treat human diseases.”
Legislative measures have made Idaho one of several states that have passed or are considering a bill that eases the sale of Ivermectin.
Earlier this year, Arkansas allowed Ivermectin to be sold over-the-counter after the state legislature passed a measure signed by Republican Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders. In 2022, Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee and Republicans signed similar measures.
The drug became popular as some doctors and studies have warned U.S. health regulators not to take it because of Covid-19, saying it was effective in treating the virus, as they warned during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) says the agency has not cleared ivermectin to be used for Covid-19, advising people who use the form of ivermectin targeting animals.
“The FDA has not determined that ivermectin is safe or effective against these indications,” the agency’s website states.
However, a study published in June 2021 found that ivermectin is associated with a “severe reduction” in Covid-19 deaths. Among hospitalized COVID-19 patients, the study found that the risk of death was 2.3% of patients treated with the drug.
A March 2022 survey analyzed a national federal database of people aged 18 and older who had confirmed COVID-19 infections between January 2020 and July 2021, and found that the drug was associated with a lower mortality rate compared to remesivir use.
Tom Ozimek contributed to this report.
