ivermectin bill in Iowa – Go Retire Psychiatrist

I think the Iowa legislature bill HF 2676 (Governor Reynolds’ MAHA bill) has just been sent back to the Senate, maybe based on fiscal issues, according to the most recent information I could find on the web. The ivermectin piece probably isn’t in a section that bears heavily on fiscal matters, so if the Senate approves it this time, it might either go back to the House for more debate about budgetary issues—or it might go to Governor Reynolds’ desk to sign (if it even has to be signed by the governor).

The ivermectin part of this bill would allow pharmacists to decide (it’s not mandatory; it’s permissive) on whether or not to offer ivermectin over-the-counter—for whatever reason a patient wants it, which could be for treating Covid-19 infection for which there’s no evidence of its effectiveness.

Because the language of the bill states that pharmacists would be immune from civil and criminal liability for bad outcomes from using ivermectin for treating Covid-19 infection, it would be up to individual pharmacists to choose whether or not to provide it for that purpose, based on their ethical principles to act out of their sense of clinical duty to ensure patient safety.

The ivermectin part of the bill is in Section VII and, in my opinion, should be removed.

I’m trying to find out what’s happening with Governor Reynolds’ MAHA bill (HF 2676) which includes allowing Iowa pharmacists to provide ivermectin without a prescription to those who prefer taking it, most likely for something else other than what’s indicated for, which is treating parasitic infections. The risk is that persons will try to use it to self-treat other diseases such as Covid 19 infections, for which there is no convincing evidence supporting ivermectin’s effectiveness.

There’s a list of bills signed into law by the governor as of April 16, 2026 which doesn’t include HF 2676. My understanding is that this year’s legislative session would be ending maybe as soon as tomorrow.

I found one source on the web which indicates the Iowa House passed it. It then went to the Senate, which passed the bill with the ivermectin part intact and it was returned to the House. It’s not clear whether Governor Reynolds actually needs to sign it into law.

My usual go-to news source for Iowa lawmaker news is the Iowa Capital Dispatch, but it doesn’t seem to have any recent updates on this bill.

The language of the bill regarding so-called over-the-counter ivermectin is permissive, meaning pharmacists may (not must) provide ivermectin, not making it mandatory for Iowa pharmacists to hand over ivermectin to anyone who requests it. And pharmacists would be exempt from “…professional discipline or civil or criminal penalties for distributing ivermectin…”

It doesn’t look like anyone considered what recourse patients might have if they suffer injury as a result of taking ivermectin for a non-FDA approved (off label) condition.