The majority of the Polk County Commission on Friday rejected a proposal to send a letter to Gov. Ron DeSantis promoting patients’ right to try ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine as possible COVID treatment options.
Commissioner Neil Combee, the author of the letter, has for weeks shared frustration with the medical community for “refusing to prescribe these safe and effective therapeutics,” as he wrote in the letter. He said these drugs are “low-risk, inexpensive, and otherwise widely available.” He believes that if a patient wants these drugs, they should be able to get them, regardless of what federal health agencies say.
With only Commissioner Bill Braswell supporting the letter as written, Combee said he will send his own letter to DeSantis making his case.
Combee’s crusade has gotten pushback from top doctors and hospital leaders in the county. At a Sept. 7 meeting, Dr. Joy Jackson, director of the Florida Department of Health in Polk County, and Dr. Daniel Haight, vice president of community health at Lakeland Regional, encouraged the commission not to send the letter.
Ivermectin, a parasite drug, and hydroxychloroquine, an autoimmune drug, are not yet proven to impact COVID-19 and are not supported for that purpose by the federal Food and Drug Administration, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the American Medical Association, and other leading agencies.
Commissioners Martha Santiago, Rick Wilson, and George Lindsey voted against Combee’s letter Friday morning during a work session.
“I’m not going to send anything promoting specific drugs,” Santiago said.