Ohio bill would force hospitals to administer off-label medications if requested

Senate Republicans this week passed legislation that would enable patients to force hospitals into administering drugs for off-label use if the hospital’s own physicians refuse (Source: “Bill forcing hospitals to administer ivermectin, other requested treatments nears finish line,” Cleveland Plain Dealer, Dec. 11).
 
The legislation comes after a COVID-19 pandemic when conservatives came to believe that drugs like hydroxychloroquine or ivermectin, neither of which have been proven to benefit COVID-19 patients, would cure, treat or prevent their infections.
 
The Senate-passed version of House Bill 73 is significantly more moderate than its early iterations. The bill requires hospital pharmacists to dispense a prescribed drug for off-label use during a public health emergency. However, it creates exceptions if the pharmacist has moral, ethical, religious, or science-backed objections, or if the patient has a history of allergies or other contraindications.
 
But if the hospital is “unwilling” to administer that drug, they must grant admitting privileges to credentialed physicians who will.
 
The original version of the bill prohibits hospitals outright from denying patients their prescribed medicines. The legislation now returns to the House, which must agree to Senate changes to get the bill to the governor’s desk by the end of the year, when all legislation must start anew with new lawmakers.