A few times a week I’ve been spending time going out, riding and caring for a set of horses. We break the ice on the paddock pond to give them drinking water, feed them and brush them out, and ride when we can get the time. I have, so far, not had the desire to start taking horse medication or to start eating their food.
Republican senator Mark Steffen admitted that his license as an anesthesiologist was under investigation after he had prescribed COVID positive individuals drugs, such as ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine, and found himself in hot water with the Kansas board of Healing Arts. There is a solution to this problem: create a piece of legislation that forces pharmacists to fill a prescription for ivermectin or hydroxychloroquine they disagree with, and immunize the doctor and the pharmacy from any liability from adverse effects. Also, lay void to any claim by the board of healing art against a doctor who made prescriptions against recommendations for COVID.
The overview of the bill reads as follows:
SB 381 would require pharmacists to dispense medications prescribed by prescribers for the prevention and treatment of COVID-19 infection, including but not limited to hydroxychloroquine sulfate and ivermectin. The bill would also create a civil liability waiver for healthcare providers and pharmacists dispensing medications and would prohibit the Board ofPharmacy from taking disciplinary action against a pharmacist for complying with such dispensing. The waiver for civil liability would be retroactive to the beginning of the pandemic (March 12, 2020). The bill would require licensing boards for prescribers and pharmacists to go back and review all disciplinary actions for acts occurring from March 12, 2020, until the active date of the bill for any action taken based on the conduct described. If any action was taken, the respective board would need to reconsider the action and rescind any action now prohibited.
The statement regarding the require to fill of medication is a unique one, as ten years ago, Kansas Republicans — many still remaining in the body, passed out legislation saying that pharmacists had the moral right to refuse to fill birth control measures. When it comes to filling ivermectin and hydrochloroquine, though? Hmm.
While anesthesiologists are not normally the first stop for patients looking to get prescriptions written out, Senator Steffen informed Sunflower State Journal he was prepared to debate the Board of Healing Arts at “any time” regarding his right to prescribe the drugs in question.
I have, thus far, been unable to get a comment on if the standard set in this bill is the equivalent of allowing the family dentist to write prescriptions for cancer medication or the birth control, and if Kansas Republicans can join in supporting that kind of legislation.