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BREAKING: Ohio Governor Asks Pharmacy Board to Reverse Hydroxychloroquine Rule

coronavirus 

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