On Utah’s Capitol Hill Monday night, it was medical experts versus self-styled “do your own research” warriors—and the doctors won…just barely. The House Health and Human Services Committee voted down HB96, from Rep. Trevor Lee, R-Layton, 5–7.
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The original version of HB96 from Rep. Trevor Lee, R-Layton, would have let physicians issue standing orders so pharmacists could dispense ivermectin without a prescription, with a basic screening process and protections if it looked unsafe. The substitute version blew past those guardrails, allowing pharmacists to hand it to anyone—no questionnaire, no doctor oversight.
Ivermectin is a decades-old antiparasitic drug used in both humans and animals, particularly horses. During COVID, it was hyped as a cure-all—it wasn’t—and some people chased livestock formulations when doctors refused to prescribe it.
More recently, advocates have pitched ivermectin as a cancer treatment. Cartoonist Scott Adams tried it for prostate cancer. He died last month.
Public comment split cleanly between medical professionals urging caution and “personal freedom” activists.
Michelle McOmber, CEO of the Utah Medical Association, warned lawmakers that dispensing ivermectin without guidance from medical professionals could cause significant harm.
“Overdosing can cause symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, hypotension, dyspnea, seizures, coma, and even death. Ivermectin interacts with other medications that a person is taking can cause serious side effects by changing how the body metabolizes them, increasing the effect of blood thinners, sedatives, and other medications,” McOmber said.
When presenting the bill, Rep. Lee claimed that there was “a plethora” of countries that dispense ivermectin over the counter, but McOmber disputed that.
“We did not find any information on other countries, especially European countries that do over-the-counter. In fact, some of them just barely approved prescription ivermectin and didn't have ivermectin before. You are seeing uses of it for parasites in some of the third-world countries, but again, not over the counter,” McOmber said.
That claim has been repeated in other states like Pennsylvania and Florida, but there’s little information to back it up. Some non-U.S. countries allow human ivermectin to be obtained without a prescription, particularly in parts of Latin America during the pandemic, but most countries still treat ivermectin as prescription-only.
Eric Millican, a dermatologist, also threw cold water on Lee’s claim.
“It is not over the counter in Western European countries. It was briefly an emergency use authorization during COVID that was then rescinded whenever it became clear it was not effective. It might be over the counter in some loosely regulated countries, but so is oxycodone. And I don't think that we want to go down the road if everybody gets to try whatever they want, just whenever they want,” Millican said.
Rebecca Blair-Stevenson, with the Utah Nurses Association, added that there’s very little data available to justify allowing ivermectin to be dispensed over the counter.
“The data that is available is bad data. The methodologies are not appropriate. Scientifically speaking, in the United States, there has only been a handful of studies on use of ivermectin in humans. and the largest scale study was a 6,000 person study, randomized controlled trial that says there was no benefit and unequivocal evidence associated with ivermectin use in humans,” she said.
Opponents framed it as a personal choice.
“I think that there should be various grades, but I think something in the form that's readily available in a lower dosage is totally appropriate in this case to use for the general public. I think the people who would use this in general probably are such a small percentage of the population, but again, we would like,” said Neil Shultz, the brother of House Speaker Mike Schultz.
“This fits under ‘Right to Try.’ It is all about self-determination for our own personal health care, making those decisions for ourselves,” said the Utah Eagle Forum’s Dalane England. “To me, the only reason to oppose this is to keep the control of it and the cost.”
For the record, “Right to Try” laws typically apply to experimental drugs for patients with life-threatening conditions, not over-the-counter dewormers.
It’s Lee’s second nod to fringe medical ideas to fail this session; his bid to loosen school vaccine exemptions died in the same committee last week.