South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control Director Edward Simmer shot down reports that his agency was getting in the way of doctors who push therapeutic treatments that are not considered effective against the virus but that people are now requesting in large numbers.
Simmer said Wednesday the agency was not preventing physicians from prescribing ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine, both unproven COVID-19 treatments, or sanctioning doctors that do so, even if it advises against the practice and promotes vaccination as the safest and most effective means of preventing COVID-19 infection.
“We don’t punish physicians or patients for clinical decisions. Nor do we determine what are acceptable uses of available medications,” Simmer said during a five-hour Senate Medical Affairs hearing where physicians testified about COVID-19 treatments. “But what we do offer is the best evidence we possibly can, the best scientific evidence regarding what is effective, both prevention and treatment, for COVID.”
'While the vast majority of medical professionals nationally+in #SouthCarolina do not prescribe or promote unauthorized #COVID19 treatments, many of the doctors who testified at Wednesday’s panel were highly supportive of ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine' https://t.co/1XLBTHwzpF
— Kendall Harmon (@KendallHarmon6) September 23, 2021