Starting Thursday, Ohio pharmacies, clinics and other medical facilities will be banned from dispensing or selling the hydroxychloroquine antimalarial drug to treat the new coronavirus.
State regulations were updated Wednesday to reflect the change, but they also included several warnings, such as whether the prescription is for a pet or if it is part of a clinical trial to evaluate the drug’s effectiveness when used to combat COVID-19.
“A pharmacist may dispense a prescription for chloroquine or hydroxychloroquine or retail it by a licensed terminal distributor of hazardous drugs, including prescriptions for Ohio-resident patients dispensed or retailed by non-resident terminal drug distributors dangerous as defined in rule 4729: 5-8-01 of the Administrative Code, unless the prescription contains a written diagnosis code of the prescriber or a statement indicating its veterinary medical purpose, “the state website said.
“Prescriptions issued for chloroquine or hydroxychloroquine for prophylactic use related to COVID-19 or for the treatment of COVID19 are strictly prohibited unless the executive director of the board approves otherwise in consultation with the chairman of the board, at which time will issue a resolution. ” continued. “As of the effective date of this rule, all prior approvals for the use of chloroquine or hydroxychloroquine will be considered void and must be approved using the process described in this paragraph.”
The Board of Pharmacy went on to say that the ban does not apply to prescriptions “issued as part of a documented clinical trial approved by the institutional review board to evaluate the safety and efficacy of medications to treat COVID-19. Prescriptions must include documentation that the patient is enrolled in a clinical trial. “
“Basically, it’s a patient safety issue,” Cameron McNamee, director of policy and communications for the board, told The Columbus Dispatch. “We are looking for the best science to determine what is best for Ohio patients.” He also said the decision has nothing to do with President Trump’s public support for the treatment.
In June, the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) reportedly revoked the emergency authorization of the drug that had been prescribed to treat coronavirus. However, Trump and other members of the medical community have hailed it as a possible cure for COVID-19.
CDC Deploys Tools for Schools to Safely Reopen During Coronavir Outbreak: “Critically Important”
This news comes just a day after Twitter experienced a public backlash for deleting a video showing what appeared to be a group of doctors outside the Supreme Court, giving testimony about how their regiments of patients with Hicoxychlororquine, Zinc and Zithromax had dumped positive results.
A Twitter representative told CNN that the action was taken “in line with” the technology company’s coronavirus disinformation policy.
One of the doctors, who was identified in the reports as Dr. Stella Immanuel, claimed that he treated more than 350 coronavirus patients, some with diabetes and high blood pressure, and none died after receiving hydroxychloroquine, zinc and zithromax.
The video, which caught fire on social media, was shared by Trump and his son Don Jr. before being removed. Trump Jr. was temporarily suspended from Twitter for sharing the video and appeared on “Tucker Carlson Tonight” to respond to the tech giant’s decision.
“I have been saying this for a long time,” he told Carlson. “I wrote my first book on justice and censorship from California’s big tech giants, a group as homogeneous as you can imagine. If they are censoring my account, they are censoring others and have been trying to do this for a moment.”
“I’ve been talking about the elimination of platforms, that demonetization of people who preach conservative values,” he said. “Because you have to keep in mind, this never happens to someone who says something that benefits the left. It only hurts conservatives.”
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
This news also comes the same day that federal lawmakers questioned big tech CEOs about their policy of political bias and highlighted cases where conservative voices were silenced for supposedly partisan reasons.
“I’m going to get straight to the point,” Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, said during the hearing. “Great technology looks for conservatives … That is a fact.”
He added: “If I had a nickel for every time I heard it was just a glitch, it wouldn’t be as rich as our witnesses, but it would be fine.”
Fox News’ Andrew O’Reilly and Edmund DeMarche contributed to this report.
