The Epoch Times – Idaho has become the latest of a handful of states to legalize over-the-counter sales of the anti-parasite drug ivermectin following the COVID-19 pandemic.
Idaho Gov. Brad Little, a Republican, did not offer any comments on the bill, which was among many measures he signed on April 14. The bill had been passed with little resistance in the Idaho Legislature and took effect immediately.
In 2024, Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed a bill legalizing over-the-counter sales of the drug, as did Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee in 2022.
A readout of the bill introduced in the Idaho House of Representatives says, in part, that ivermectin would be able to be used “without restriction or consultation” with a “health care professional,” and that it could also be sold over the counter, or “legally sold and purchased without a prescription.”
During the pandemic, some researchers touted ivermectin as a means to treat COVID-19, although federal health officials have said that the drug is not effective in treating the virus.
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State Sen. Tammy Nichols, a Republican, presented the bill before the state Senate floor on April 3 and told local media outlets that it would eliminate a hurdle for consumers.
“We’re not mandating use, we’re not prescribing treatment, and we are not mandating that it be sold,” Nichols told KTVB-7. “What we’re doing with this bill is simple. We’re removing a barrier.”
Senate President Pro Tempore Kelly Anthon, a Republican who helped co-sponsor the bill, said ivermectin has a broad range of uses.
“This is a drug that has had really immeasurable impacts on improving the lives of billions and billions of people throughout the world since it was discovered. It’s been called, in many places, a wonder drug,” Anthon told lawmakers in an Idaho Senate committee hearing in early April …
[The only conceivable way that ivermectin “has had really immeasurable impacts on improving the lives of billions and billions of people throughout the world” is by deworming their livestock. – HEADLINE HEALTH]
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Thinking of stocking up on sheep dip [ivermectin]? “The medication is ineffective and potentially dangerous.”
“A 2023 clinical trial on 1,432 largely vaccinated outpatients with mild to moderate COVID saw a median recovery time of 11 days with the ivermectin and 12 days with the placebo. Therefore, the study concluded, ‘These findings do not support the use of ivermectin among outpatients with COVID-19.’ – FORTUNE, April 2, 2025
“While some studies suggest ivermectin may slow tumor growth in research settings, it has not been extensively studied in humans, and no major health organizations have approved it, or other anti-parasitic medications, for cancer treatment.” – THE MONITOR, KFF, March 13, 2025
“An August 2024 meta-analysis of 12 ivermectin randomized controlled trials of non-hospitalized patients in the International Journal of Antimicrobial Agents reported that ‘ivermectin did not reduce hospitalization, all-cause mortality or adverse events when compared with controls.’” – REASON, March 11, 2025
“RESEARCH ON HUMANS never found that ivermectin was a good treatment for Covid.” – MEN’S HEALTH, November 21, 2024
“The medication is ineffective and — in the case of animal ivermectin — potentially dangerous.” – Why You Shouldn’t Take Ivermectin for COVID-19, CLEVELAND CLINIC, June 20, 2024