- Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed a law allowing residents to buy ivermectin without a prescription.
- The law challenges federal health authorities who opposed ivermectin for COVID-19 despite some evidence of benefits.
- Pharmacies can now sell human-grade ivermectin over the counter, bypassing doctor approval.
- Supporters argue the law empowers patient choice, citing early pandemic dismissal of ivermectin by federal agencies.
- West Virginia and other states may follow, signaling growing distrust of federal health mandates.
Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed Senate Bill 189 into law this week, allowing residents to purchase ivermectin without a prescription.
The decision marks a direct challenge to federal health authorities who have long discouraged the drug’s use for COVID-19 despite mounting evidence of its potential benefits. With West Virginia now considering similar legislation, the debate over ivermectin’s role in pandemic treatment is reigniting, alongside criticism of the Biden administration’s handling of early therapeutic options.
The new law, which takes effect 90 days after the legislature adjourns, permits pharmacies in the state to sell human-grade ivermectin over the counter, bypassing the need for a doctor’s approval. Supporters argue that the move empowers individuals to make their own healthcare choices — a principle they say was trampled during the pandemic when federal agencies like the FDA and NIH dismissed ivermectin despite promising studies.
A big victory for patient choice
Ivermectin, an antiparasitic drug with decades of safe use in humans backing it, became a lightning rod for controversy during COVID-19. While the FDA famously warned Americans not to take a "horse dewormer" (a misleading characterization, as ivermectin has FDA-approved human formulations), physicians worldwide reported success using it off-label. Arkansas’s law now codifies access to the drug, a move backers say could have saved lives had it been implemented earlier.
“I am happy that Gov. Sanders signed SB189, giving people the choice to use ivermectin,” said Brock Thompson, who helped draft the bill. "We don't know what the future holds for the human drug, but to me it validates the doctors that were demonized for using it." State Sen. Alan Clark echoed the sentiment, praising the bipartisan support for the bill as a win for medical autonomy.
During the pandemic, the Biden administration and health officials repeatedly downplayed ivermectin, even as studies suggested its efficacy. A 2023 UK clinical trial found ivermectin recipients recovered from COVID-19 two days faster than those receiving standard care, with fewer hospitalizations. Yet the study’s authors controversially dismissed the results as “not clinically significant” — a conclusion that critics like Dr. Pierre Kory of the FLCCC Alliance called “statistical chicanery.”
“PRINCIPLE was a profoundly positive study that was instead analyzed and written up as a negative one,” Kory argued, noting that the FDA’s hostility toward repurposed drugs like ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine left Americans with fewer early-treatment options. Meanwhile, states like West Virginia are now advancing their own bills to loosen ivermectin restrictions, signaling growing distrust of federal health mandates.
Arkansas’s law reflects a broader movement to decentralize healthcare decisions from Washington bureaucracies. While opponents warn of potential misuse, proponents stress that adults should have the right to weigh risks, just as they do with over-the-counter painkillers or supplements.
As the ivermectin debate continues, Arkansas has clearly sided with medical freedom, offering a model for other states to follow. Had such policies been in place during the pandemic’s darkest days, countless lives might have been spared the toll of federal obstruction. For now, the message to patients is simple: You, not the government, should control your treatment choices.
In an era of polarized science, Arkansas’s law is a reminder that medical autonomy matters — and that skepticism of top-down health mandates is far from fringe. As West Virginia weighs similar action, the fight for ivermectin access may just be beginning.
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