Lack of supply, government fiat blamed

by Guy Page

Most Vermont pharmacy chains are not dispensing ivermectin, due to either supply shortages or corporate direction. The direction is based on numerous medical organization and government directives.

Pharmacies are taking direction from a September 1 American Medical Association statement, an August 26 CDC bulletin and/or a April 2020 Vermont policy.

The pharmacist at CVS Pharmacy in Berlin told me yesterday that corporate policy prevents her from filling my ivermectin prescription. This policy was informed by American Medical Association and Vermont Board of Pharmacy statements, she said.

Like any other frustrated consumer, I called the competition. Walmart said flat-out it won’t fill ivermectin for Covid-19. Local pharmacists at Wahlgreen’s and Kinney’s said it’s a moot point because outside vendors are unable to provide a supply. (Neither pharmacy offered to put me on a waiting list.) The Wahlgreen’s pharmacist added he has some discretion to dispense ivermectin.

The CDC bulletin lends credence to the supply shortage explanation. Thanks (some observers say) to vaccine mandates, decreasing effectiveness of vaccines, and distrust of the government’s doctors, there is an unprecedented demand for non-vaccine alternatives to prevent and treat Covid-19. Ivermectin reportedly is used successfully for both overseas, and has a growing record of success in peer-reviewed studies. The CDC says U.S. prescriptions for human beings have jumped from 3,600 on average last year to 18,000 by July 4 to 88,000 this August:

“A recent study examining trends in ivermectin dispensing from outpatient retail pharmacies in the United States during the COVID-19 pandemic showed an increase from an average of 3,600 prescriptions per week at the pre-pandemic baseline (March 16, 2019–March 13, 2020) to a peak of 39,000 prescriptions in the week ending on January 8, 2021. Since early July 2021, outpatient ivermectin dispensing has again begun to rapidly increase, reaching more than 88,000 prescriptions in the week ending August 13, 2021. This represents a 24-fold increase from the pre-pandemic baseline.”

The 88,000 includes only retail pharmacies, the CDC says. It does not cover long-term care pharmacies. Not does it include sales from mail order pharmacies – where business is booming due to growing restrictions as stated above.

The AMA statement seems to focus on human use of ivermectin at veterinary dosages – for, say, horses. While acknowledging its treatment for parasitism in humans, the AMA does not mention that researchers won a Nobel Prize in 2015 for establishing ivermectin’s use in treating humans for parasites, or that ivermectin is a CDC-required treatment for human refugees coming to the United States.

Ivermectin is not among the Covid-19 drugs (including hydroxychloroquine) placed under Enhanced Drug Utilization Review in an April 2020 memo from Lauren Hibbert, Director of the Office of Professional Regulation for the Vermont Secretary of State. This process gives tighter perameters to pharmacists, requiring them to be more choosy about dispensing a drug. However, “The DUR process should always be completed, for every medication, pandemic or not,” SOS Spokesperson Eric Covey said today.

Ivermectin is still available to Vermonters via online, mail-order prescriptions.