Ohio Health Dept bans hydroxychloroquine as covid treatment after numerous doctors come out in support

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The Ohio Department of Health announced that hydroxychloroquine is “not an effective treatment” in treating COVID-19 and has reportedly banned its use.

Medical facilities, pharmacies and clinics in Ohio are banned in updated state regulations from dispensing or selling the drug which has recently been praised by medical experts for its effectiveness in treating the novel coronavirus. Apparently, if the drug will be used for a pet or is part of a clinical trial, an exception is made to the rule.


(Source: Fox News)

“Ohio is taking its cues from the leftist media on hydroxychloroquine,” Fox News host Laura Ingraham said Wednesday, speaking with medical experts on “The Ingraham Angle” about the “political” ban on the malaria drug that has been touted by President Donald Trump.

“Ohio is no different except that they made it public,” Dr. Harvey Risch, professor of epidemiology at Yale’s School of Public Health, said, noting that 44 states already “have restrictions and limitations on both prescribing hydroxychloroquine and selling it.”

“Doctors are intimidated all over the country from doing this. So Ohio is more out in the public about it,” he added.

The Ohio ban stated that prescriptions for the drug “are strictly prohibited unless otherwise approved by the board’s executive director in consultation with the board president.”

“No prescription for chloroquine or hydroxychloroquine may be dispensed by a pharmacist or sold at retail by a licensed terminal distributor of dangerous drugs, including prescriptions for patients residing in Ohio dispensed or sold at retail by nonresident terminal distributors of dangerous drugs as defined in rule 4729:5-8-01 of the Administrative Code, unless the prescription bears a written diagnosis code from the prescriber or a statement indicating its veterinary medical purpose,” the state announced.

But the Pharmacy Board noted the ban does not apply to prescriptions that are “issued as part of a documented institutional review board-approved clinical trial to evaluate the safety and efficacy of the drugs to treat COVID-19. Prescriptions must include documentation that the patient is enrolled in a clinical trial.”

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration pulled the emergency authorization for the drug back in June when it was being prescribed to treat the coronavirus and was being hailed for its efficacy by experts and even the president, leading many to suspect that Trump’s approval sealed its fate.

“Lives, in my view, are in danger, in jeopardy because of this,” Ingraham said on her show Wednesday.

“That is really disturbing what is going on in Ohio and what is going on, period, with this drug,” Dr. Stephen Smith, an infectious disease specialist based in New Jersey, agreed. “People have died because they did not get hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin upon coming to the E.R.”

“Is this political because Trump said it can work and so if it works, Trump is responsible for saving lives? What is going on here?” Ingraham wondered.

“Basically, it’s a patient safety issue,” the pharmacy board’s director of policy and communications, Cameron McNamee, told The Columbus Dispatch, adding that the move had nothing to do with Trump. “We’re looking at the best science to determine what’s best for the patients of Ohio.”

The latest decision in Ohio comes days after tech giants came under fire for pulling a video that showed a group of doctors outside of the Supreme Court speaking on their personal experiences treating patients successfully with hydroxychloroquine, zinc and Zithromax.

Dr. Stella Immanuel claimed in the video clip that none of the 350 coronavirus patients that she treated with the drugs had died. The video was taken down on Twitter, YouTube/Google and Facebook after being widely shared and reposted by the president as well as his son, Donald Trump Jr. Even pop diva Madonna came under fire for her support.

In a recent piece published by Newsweek, Risch wrote that he was “flummoxed” to find himself “fighting for a treatment that the data fully support but which, for reasons having nothing to do with a correct understanding of the science, has been pushed to the sidelines.”

“As a result, tens of thousands of patients with COVID-19 are dying unnecessarily,” he wrote.

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