Georgians who want to buy an anti-parasitic drug may soon be able to pick it up from their local pharmacist without a prescription.
A state House committee Thursday amended a bill to allow pharmacists to distribute ivermectin over the counter to Georgians 18 and older.
The ivermectin language was added to a bill aimed at updating provisions around the Department of Public Health that had already passed the Senate during the final madcap days of Georgia’s legislative session, set to end April 2. Because the bill was amended, it will need to pass the Senate again as well as the House if it is to become law.
The bill passed the House Public and Community Health Committee mostly along party lines despite warnings from medical experts like Johns Creek Democratic Rep. Michelle Au, who is also a physician, that it could endanger Georgians’ health.
“It is galling at this point in session, when time is running out, to have to hear this bill now for the fourth time in the public health committee — a bill that was fine and passed out twice and was yanked back in order to insert this language about ivermectin availability, to waste that amount of time when there are hundreds of real public health bills that would have immediate effect on patients in Georgia,” she said.