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Less than a day after the Ohio Board of Pharmacy invoked a rule
prohibiting the selling or dispensing of hydroxychloroquine for treatment of
COVID-19 in the state, Gov. Mike DeWine asked the board to withdraw the rule.
In a statement, DeWine said “prescribing hydroxychloroquine to
treat COVID-19 should be decided between a doctor and a patient.” The
governor’s request followed a series of actions between the board, the Ohio
Department of Health and the U.S. FDA.
In March Ohio doctors were reported to be hoarding the drug
to treat their patients. In April the Ohio Department of Health bought millions
of doses of it to stockpile it for use with the state’s residents; in June the
FDA revoked its emergency use authorization (EUA), putting use of the drug in
limbo until it is officially approved for /COVID-19.
The pharmacy board quickly followed up by ordering its
members to only dispense hydroxychloroquine to those testing positive for
COVID-19.
A month later, on July 29, 2020, the pharmacy board
tightened the rule, forbidding its members from dispensing it for any reason at
all with COVID-19. Two hours after the governor asked them to remove the rule,
a pharmacy board webpage that had posted the new rule had already been taken
down.
SOURCES:
10
WBNS News July 30, 2020
Ohio
Statehouse News July 29, 2020
Cincinnati
Enquirer June 18, 2020
Columbus
Dispatch March 23, 2020
Ohio
Board of Pharmacy July 30, 2020