HCQ is approved and available by prescription in the US. Doctors can prescribe and pharmacists can fill the ‘scripts, WRITTEN FOR ANY INDICATION under normal conditions. However, some state boards put pressure on docs and RPhs re ordering and filling of HCQ ‘scripts, forbidding off-label use, like Ohio. I am not sure who/what pressured the boards to do this, but we know Ohio has quite a bit of derpiness. Ohio has since backed off this stance.
You should be able to find a doc that will write you a ‘script if you are sick with COVID-19. A good doc may even write you one for prophylactic therapy if you have an underlying condition that predisposes you to untoward outcomes if you contract COVID-19.
In PA, the state board is requesting that smaller quantities of HCQ be dispensed to reduce shortages. That makes sense.
https://www.dos.pa.gov/ProfessionalLicensing/Pages/Prescribing-Suggestions-for-Hydroxychloroquine.aspx
This site seems to have good info per each state (link), and looks to be a national supplier, if you have a ‘script.https://www.healthwarehouse.com/hydroxychloroquine-200mg-tablets-generic-plaquenil.html
Thanks for the info. I don’t guess there’s much more POTUS can do to counter the state restrictions other than informing the public about HCQ’s effectiveness and hoping that locals put pressure on their state governments. I assume/hope the FDA is conducting studies on its effectiveness as a COVID treatment. Hopefully results will be forthcoming.
“For prophylactic use” bears repeating. The reason HCQ has been taken for years by people planning to travel to areas with malaria is to help keep them from getting sick. It is not a miracle drug like many seem to wish it was. It can have benefit to some who have the virus but is is most effective as a prophylactic and when the dust settles we’re going to learn that many medical professionals have been taking it despite other precautions to lessen their odds of getting the virus from patients they come in contact with.
HCQ works by increasing the pH of the cellular membrane which makes it more difficult for the virus to take over the cell and reproduce. That’s the only means by which a virus can reproduce, so if you padlock the cell, so to speak, you stop the viral infection. It has other benefits but as a treatment the data is not lying, it does not reverse the course of the disease in people who already have severe cases, which only makes sense when you understand how it works.
It is unfortunate that democraps turned it into a political issue but anyone who wants or needs HCQ can get it. There is alot of BS surrounding this issued, on all sides.