More than a week ago, the state Board of Pharmacy created new limitations for prescribing drugs commonly used to treat lupus, malaria and autoimmune diseases. Now, Ohio’s Attorney General says there is evidence some doctors might be hoarding them and potentially selling them as coronavirus therapies.
Attorney General Dave Yost says some doctors have been writing scripts for large amounts of those drugs - in one case, one thousand doses. Yost believes doctors are stockpiling the drug for their own use or their families.
“This is just like toilet paper except the only people who can buy it up have a prescription pad," Yost says.
Yost says there’s a potential some of those drugs are potentially being sold on the black market and says federal authorities are investigating the matter. He’s calling on doctors who have prescribed the drug improperly to come forward and self-report their action to avoid the harshest penalties. Depending on the situation, doctors could lose their license, face criminal charges or both.
Copyright 2020 The Statehouse News Bureau. To see more, visit The Statehouse News Bureau.