Governor Sarah Sanders (R-AR) signed a bill permitting ivermectin to be sold over the counter.
According to Senate Bill 189, ivermectin “suitable for human use may be sold or purchased as an over-the-counter medication in this state without a prescription or consultation with a healthcare professional.”
The law takes effect 90 days after the legislature adjourns, according to KARK.
The legislation’s sponsors are Sen. Alan Clark (R) and Rep. Mary Bentley (R).
“I’m more trusting of my constituents’ and friends’ common sense than I am of the medical industry at the moment,” Clark said during a committee meeting on the bill.
Following the bill’s signing, Clark stated, as per KATV, “I am glad the people brought me a good idea, the legislature embraced it enthusiastically with a bipartisan vote, the governor signed it.”
“I am happy that Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed SB189 giving the people the choice to use Ivermectin an old drug for themselves,” said Brock Thompson, who proposed the bill to Clark. “It has been finding new life over the past few years and this will help continue the conversation about medical freedoms. We don’t know what the future holds for the human drug, but to me, it validates the doctors that were demonized for using it.”
A 2024 study found that COVID-19 patients who were given ivermectin recovered faster than those who were not given the drug. Patients receiving ivermectin were also less likely to be hospitalized or die. Only 1.6% of patients on ivermectin were hospitalized, compared to 4.4% of those receiving usual care.
