On March 25, Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed into law a measure that made ivermectin available over the counter in pharmacies.
On March 18, the Arkansas House voted 78-14 in favor of Senate Bill 189 by Sen. Alan Clark, R-Lonsdale, and Rep. Mary Bentley, R-Perryville. Three people voted present on the bill: Rep. Fred Allen, D-Little Rock; Rep. Jon Eubanks, R-Paris; and Rep. Les Warren, R-Hot Springs. The Senate voted 29-5 the following day to pass the measure and deliver it to the governor’s desk.
Ivermectin gained widespread recognition and no small dose of controversy during the COVID-19 pandemic when it was touted as an effective alternative treatment. The drug became a flashpoint in the debate over the safety of the COVID-19 vaccine.
The drug itself was largely derided by opponents as an anti-parasitic livestock drug, the purpose for which it was invented in the 1970s and for which its creators ultimately received a Nobel Prize. However, this narrow characterization is something dissenters have had to walk back, admitting a form of ivermectin for humans has existed since the 1980s and is used to treat stomach parasites and head lice.
The drug’s effectiveness against COVID-19 continues to be the subject of much debate, just as the impact of the vaccine on spiking rates of cancer and heart ailments among the vaccinated have been. The case for ivermectin got a major boost during the pandemic when influential podcaster Joe Rogan discussed on-air his use of the drug in treating COVID-19.
At its heart, the new law is framed as a blow to patient choice as it brings the human-grade version of the drug into wider reach of the citizenry, proponents said. The bill’s sponsors claimed doctors’ hesitancy to prescribe the drug for other than medical reasons ― such as public scorn and possible loss of insurance privileges ― led people to buy the livestock version through farm supply stores, a much more concentrated version of the drug. Making human-grade ivermectin available on demand, they said, would go a long way toward eliminating such potentially dangerous practices.
Proponents of such alternative medicines over the vaccine hailed the February installation of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as secretary for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Kennedy has been highly critical in the past of the development of new and alternative medicines, writing in an Oct. 25, 2024, post on X that the FDA was waging a “war on public health.” He also accused the Biden administration of “aggressive suppression” of myriad treatments, including ivermectin.
The Arkansas law goes into effect 90 days after the legislature adjourns.
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