A South Dakota state bill protecting doctors who prescribe ivermectin was “killed in a Senate committee.” In simple terms, House Bill 1267 would “allow certain medical professionals to dispense ivermectin to persons.” The bill had passed in the lower state chamber of South Dakota but was defeated in a state senate committee by a vote of 7-0.

Republican Objections

Republican Senator Arthur Rusch brought the motion to kill the bill based on the grounds that he’s not a “medical expert” and he didn’t want to see the legislature dictate medicine and his belief in less government involvement.

Interestingly, it’s primarily Republicans that are proposing such medical freedom bills given the federal government’s active oversight of doctors during the pandemic. Yet Senator Rusch seems to take an oppositional point of view.

Rusch was joined by State Senator Blake Curd who said the bill “may restrict physicians’ use and added the state is already too involved in health care.” Again, the point of this proposed legislation is to push back the federal government. Senator Curd doesn’t address that point.

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The two Republicans were joined by Senator Red Dawn Foster, a Democrat, who said she was concerned with the words “dispensing vs. prescribing”. Committee members also heard from South Dakota doctors who claimed they were being pressured not to prescribe the drug for the treatment of Covid-19. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has repeatedly stated that ivermectin should not be prescribed for treatment of the coronavirus and has labeled the drug a “horse de-wormer.”

Paul Marik Testifies

Dr. Paul Marik, who has advocated for the use of ivermectin to treat covid, testified in front of the South Dakota Senate committee and claimed Merck, the maker of the drug, has a “conflict of interest.” Marik claims the pharmaceutical company manufactures a covid pill to treat the virus, which is more competitive in the market. The physician previously testified in favor of a similar bill in Virginia which was also “killed” in committee. In his South Dakota testimony, Marik also said ivermectin was one of the “safest drugs on the planet” and the federal government, states, or hospitals shouldn’t tell doctors how to practice medicine. “It violates the Hippocratic Oath,” Marik said.

Medical Associations Oppose the Bill

The South Dakota State Medical Association, Avera Health, Sanford Health, the South Dakota Association of Healthcare Organizations, the South Dakota Academy of Family Physicians, and the South Dakota Pharmacists Association all opposed the legislation. The bill’s primary sponsor, Rep. Phil Jensen, said the bill was not a mandate, and patients who recovered from covid using ivermectin also testified in favor of the legislation. The state house of Representatives had voted 40-28 in favor of a version of the bill that allows medical practitioners to prescribe ivermectin for purposes that don’t have “federal approval”.

The legislation was still sent to the 41st day, which is the day after the end of the Legislative Session, meaning the bill is effectively killed.