SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — Debate over allowing medical professionals to give ivermectin, with or without a prescription, is heading to the floor of the South Dakota House of Representatives. 

Ivermectin, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, is a U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved prescription medication used to treat certain infections caused by internal and external parasites. There’s also veterinary formulations of ivermectin, sometimes available over the counter, to be used as a de-wormer for dogs, cats, horses, cows and pigs. 

The drug has become a growing trend as a possible treatment for COVID-19. South Dakota lawmakers will continue to discuss a bill, House Bill 1267, to allow ivermectin to be given to people without a prescription. The bill narrowly passed the House Health and Human Services Committee 7-6 on Thursday. 

Tim Rave, executive director for the South Dakota Association of Healthcare Organizations, spoke against the bill in committee and wants lawmakers to know there’s not enough information about ivermectin as a treatment for COVID-19. 

He said like bleach, enough ivermectin, kills COVID-19 cells in a petri dish. 

“You have to be careful about how much of it you are putting into your body,” Rave said. “We do know that ivermectin at high doses does cause damage to your organs, specifically your liver and your kidneys.”  

SDAHO represents all 54 nonprofit hospitals and 64 long-term care facilities in South Dakota. While much of the health care community spoke against HB 1267, the South Dakota Department of Health did not take a position. 

Daniel Bucheli, a spokesman with the DOH told KELOLAND News the department does not comment on all pending legislation.

“We are tracking this bill, among others,” Bucheli said in an emailed statement. “We continue to encourage all residents, and legislators, to only get medical information from trusted and verified sources.”

A Rapid City couple, Kevin and Stephanie Hunter, spoke in favor of HB 1267. Kevin spent four months in the hospital with COVID-19 and now relies on bottled oxygen. Stephanie told lawmakers there’s a cost-benefit analysis for ivermectin against COVID-19. 

“Cost certainly is a consideration but it still has to be taken in the paradigm of is the medication going to be effective at a level that does not cause the patient harm,” Rave said. “We simply do not know enough about ivermectin treating COVID, to say that’s absolute. You can give X amount of medication and it’s going to make you better or, on the flip side, it is not going to cause you great harm or death.” 

Rave said how the bill is currently written allowing a practitioner to give ivermectin with or without a prior prescription is not acceptable for a drug like ivermectin. He said he would expect more amendments on the bill to at least require a prescription. 

“They’ll debate the bill and do what they do,” Rave said. “That’s why there’s four steps in the process.” 

He said health care workers want to keep patients safe and said there’s plenty of on-going studies for ivermectin as a treatment for COVID-19. 

“Providers today can provide ivermectin in an off-label use if they so choose to do that,” Rave said. “We simply don’t know enough about the impacts at a therapeutic dose.” 

Merck, the company that makes ivermectin, said it has scientists continuing to study the findings “of all available and emerging studies of ivermectin for the treatment of COVID-19 for evidence of efficacy and safety.” 

Rave said people should continue to let health care providers pick the best treatment for each patient. He said every health care provider in the state is trained to look and use the “latest and greatest” proven treatments.  

“The goal is to not do harm,” Rave said. “Everybody does not want to be sick from COVID, but you can’t just grab a drug and hear anecdotal evidence that it may or may not have worked somewhere. Slow down, let’s find out if the studies prove it works.”

Similar bill being promoted in Kansas

A bill similar to HB 1267 will also be discussed in Kansas. That bill would allow “a prescriber may prescribe, and a pharmacist shall dispense, in accordance with a prescription drug order, a prescription drug approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration, including, but not limited to, hydroxychloroquine sulfate and ivermectin, for an off-label use to prevent or treat COVID-19 infection in a patient.”

The Associated Press reported Kansas state Sen. Mark Steffen, a Republican and physician under investigation by the state medical board, helped push a bill through a House health committee.