News about Andy Harris’ activities has been sparse in recent months because he does not do much. Most of us think we know him. Harris is an intrepid Trumpian right-wing anesthesiologist who is still not ready to acknowledge the outcome of the 2020 presidential election. Did you hear he treated a COVID-19 patient with a drug best known for deworming horses?
Although Dr. Harris is the wrong representative for the Eastern Shore in Congress, I respected his Johns Hopkins medical degree. That ended last week when I read in the Spy and Washington Post that Harris prescribed ivermectin to a patient who has refused to take the COVID-19 vaccine. My reaction was shock. The FDA has specifically warned against this misuse of the drug. The use was not part of a clinical trial, the one use of ivermectin for COVID-19 approved by the FDA and AMA.
Why is an anesthesiologist prescribing ivermectin to a patient? Did Harris, a member of Congress, familiarize himself with the FDA’s warning and, more importantly, have a full understanding of the warning before writing the prescription? Isn’t serving in Congress supposed to be a full-time job? Prescribing ivermectin as a treatment for COVID-19 by itself may be medical malpractice. Let’s hope that the patient who sought Dr. Harris out to get the prescription doesn’t die from it. If he does, Harris should be held accountable.
Prescribing a medicine not recommended by the FDA or the American Medical Association and virtually all competent doctors is bad enough, but Dr. Harris went on a WCBM radio show on September 17 to share the news with the public. Harris told Casey & Company, “I wrote a prescription for ivermectin, I guess it’s now three weeks ago, four weeks ago, and yeah, couldn’t find a pharmacy to fill it.”
Dr. Harris might have found the drug at one of the veterinary clinics in our area. Given the number of horses and cows on the Eastern Shore with worms, they would have the drug. It is doubtful, however, that they would be so irresponsible to fill the prescription if they knew that Dr. Harris’ patient walked on two feet, not four.
What is the FDA warning relating to the use of ivermectin as a treatment for COVID? The FDA website notes: “There’s a lot of misinformation around, and you may have heard that it’s okay to take large doses of ivermectin. It is not okay. Even the levels of ivermectin for approved human uses can interact with other medications, like blood-thinners. You can also overdose on ivermectin, which can cause nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, hypotension (low blood pressure), allergic reactions (itching and hives), dizziness, ataxia (problems with balance), seizures, coma and even death.”
Dr. Harris was irresponsible in discussing ivermectin on the radio. Given his status as a member of Congress, listeners might assume that he knew what he was doing. But why did he choose to discuss the drug on the radio? In so doing, Harris has contributed to misinformation referenced by the FDA. He may have unintentionally encouraged people to seek out ivermectin, including the versions of the drug specifically formulated for livestock, and take it.
Should Congress censure Dr. Harris for his actions (both prescribing the drug and talking about it recklessly on the radio)? Probably not. It is not illegal for doctors, even ones without an expertise in infectious diseases, to prescribe it. Far better would it be for the medical profession itself to investigate what Harris did and whether disciplinary measures should be taken.
As voters on the Eastern Shore, we have yet another reason to replace Dr. Harris as the representative of the First District. Once again, he has demonstrated remarkably bad judgment.
J.E. Dean is a retired attorney and public affairs consultant writing on politics, government, birds, and occasionally, golden doodles.
Correction (10-28-21): In a previous version of this commentary, it was incorrectly stated that Congressman Harris was formally associated UMM Regional Shore Health. Dr. Harris, in fact, works part-time for a third-party anesthesiologist group. The Spy regrets the error.
David Tull says
Is Mr Dean a socialist? Sure sounds like it.
John Dean says
Thank you for reading the article.
I re-read it myself to see if I sounded like a socialist. I didn’t. I’m not sure how being outraged by what appears to be a reckless prescription of ivermectin makes one sound like a socialist.
Socialism is usually discussed in the context of economics. Forgive me if I missed something.
Darrell parsons says
I’m perplexed as to how criticizing an elected public official makes the writer a socialist. I’m much less perplexed as to why Harris would brag about prescribing ivermectin. In any case I prefer the socialist over the lemming.
Michael Davis says
Emotionally and intellectually maturing kids stopped calling people names after elementary school.
Marvin Nielsen says
From the National Institutes of Health website (a 10 second Bing search and the top reference https://www.covid19treatmentguidelines.nih.gov/therapies/antiviral-therapy/ivermectin/):
“Ivermectin is a Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved antiparasitic drug that is used to treat several neglected tropical diseases, including onchocerciasis, helminthiases, and scabies.1 …
Recommendation
There is insufficient evidence for the COVID-19 Treatment Guidelines Panel (the Panel) to recommend either for or against the use of ivermectin for the treatment of COVID-19. Results from adequately powered, well-designed, and well-conducted clinical trials are needed to provide more specific, evidence-based guidance on the role of ivermectin in the treatment of COVID-19.”
Presumably Mr. Dean knows something about the law since he is said to be a retired attorney. He doesn’t appear to know much about computer searches or medicine. He should restrict his comments to his area of expertise.
Chris Roberts says
Agree and thank you, Marvin.
For anyone else interested in doing their own research, start with Dr Pierre Khoury and his data and support for Ivermectin as a COVID therapeutic. Might want to use Duck Duck Go as your search engine to ensure your search results are not curated.
All this article does is parrot the talking points for the liberal Democrat agenda – it’s nothing more than a hit piece on Andy Harris.
John Dean says
I’m sorry you did not like the article. My concern with Dr. Harris is that he prescribed the ivermectin contrary to the FDA advice (via the official FDA website) and then talked about it publicly, something that risks listeners assuming it is approved by the government.
If the liberal Democrat agenda is monitoring your elected representatives and calling them out when they act recklessly or with disregard for their actions, please consider me guilty.
Also, I was curious about your endorsement of Duck Duck Go. You might want to take a look at this article: https://www.diggitmagazine.com/articles/dems-fraud-data-voids.
In any case, I appreciate your reading the article and commenting despite your less than kind words about the piece.
Stephen Schaare says
Hi Chris, The loathing and contempt Mr. Dean has for anything non hard left cannot be measured. Never have understood how he harbors such resentment, for years. Toxic.
John Dean says
I’m not sure I should thank you for your comment, which is a little disparaging.
If you click on the second link in the column (the red line reading “The FDA has specifically warned against misuse of this drug,” you will see what the Food and Drug Administration has to say on the subject. The American Medical Association also has expressed alarm.
If Dr. Harris were administering a clinical trial, perhaps his prescription would be appropriate. To my knowledge, he wasn’t. I was alarmed that he discussed the drug on a radio show–something that could prompt someone with COVID that ivermectin is a safe treatment.
May I politely suggest you do a bit more research yourself? I would recommend the Google search engine.
In any case, despite your disparagement, I appreciate you reading the article. I am not going attack you personally for disagreeing with me.
Stephen Schaare says
Hi Mr. Dean, Once again, the question is moot. Dr. Harris will be re elected with record numbers in 2022. This is widely known.
I keep hoping you will share with the readers the reason behind your personal,visceral hatred for this man. A fella can dream, can’t he?
Since the theme was “believe it or not”, I watched a man in his sixties, with a “five o’clock shadow” and a honey blonde wig, sworn in as first 4 star female Admiral in some agency. You want absurd? Where does this charade rate on the scale?
You talk a really good game in your hatred of Trump and Harris. Sure would like to see more action. File a lawsuit to have Harris’s license revoked. Start a petition to remove him from public service.
Do you know for a fact the prescription was filled and taken by the patient? What happened? Perhaps another lawsuit would provide a typical “follow up”.
You said Dr. Harris was a “part time” Congressman. What about our part time President leaving for Delaware damn near every Thursday afternoon?
Your thoughts?
Almost forgot, where on Earth is our gifted VP Harris? What is she doing? Thank you-Steve
John Dean says
I am not going to respond to everything in your comment, especially the hate expressed in your third paragraph. You could have condemned my column without including that.
I appreciate that Harris is currently favored to win re-election. I am hopeful that if more voters on the Eastern Shore were aware of his policy positions and actions, they might start thinking about change.
Finally, regarding President Biden’s trips to Delaware: Two wrongs do not make a right. More simply put, regardless of your perspectives on how Biden is doing as president, it is appropriate for voters in the First District to scrutinize the record of Mr. Harris.
Sharon Burns says
I don’t know what I’d do if I found he was going to be my anesthesiologist. 😱😱😱
John Dean says
Hopefully you would make the discovery before you went under. . .
I appreciate your reading the piece. I personally believe serving in Congress is a full-time job.
Stephen Schaare says
Hi Sharon, Well, if you believe John Dean, you would get a different Doctor.
Anything else?
Patrick Hornberger says
Can the general public find out which medical procedures are performed by Dr. Harris? Will the UMSM make such information available – before a patient is operated on? And why would the UMSM system tolerate the use of Dr. Harris for any procedure, given his questionable actions?
John Knud-Hansen, MD FACS says
Speaking as a physician, this comment is sloppy and poorly thought out. Ivermectin has been approved by the FDA for human use for many years. As with hydrochloroquin it has been used safely for many years with an extremely low side effect profile. In urology we have used intravesical BCG for decades to prevent recurrence of low grade bladder cancer before there were double blind studies to get it FDA approved for that specific use. Off label indications are not rare in medicine. If the agent has not been shown to be unduly harmful in normal doses and if the patient understands that it isn’t standard therapy but that there is at least anecdotal evidence that it has been been beneficial in some cases I don’t see a violation of medical ethics. My sense is that the writer’s primary focus is political animosity rather than medical ethics. I may be wrong and, if so, would welcome a more full explanation.
Henry Herr says
As Mr. Dean so eloquently points out, the problem isn’t necessarily that Invermectin was prescribed to someone. It’s that a Congressman who is an anesthesiologist is prescribing experimental medicine. I’m not sure why that point seems to get lost. As a physician, would you want a Congressman prescribing experimental medication? Especially when the Congressman is an anesthesiologist? As Mr. Dean points out, doesn’t the Congressman have more pressing issues in Congress?
Linda Baker says
Thank you Dr Knud-Hansen! I’m so happy to see a Dr respond that is knowledgeable and is willing to admit this drug has been FDA approved for years for humans, and is not just an animal medicine. I have heard of many people recovering fairly quickly after taking the two drugs you mentioned. Much appreciation!
John Dean says
Dr. Knud-Hansen: My objection to Dr. Harris’ prescribing ivermectin is based on the explicit FDA warning (linked in the article). I am also upset at his discussing his actions on a radio talk show–something that could convince people that the use of the drug for COVID is approved by the FDA.
I note in the article that ivermectin is approved for use in humans. I also note that the FDA and AMA believe it should only be used in the context of a clinical study.
Finally, please note that I suggested that the medical profession should evaluate Dr. Harris’ actions and determine if his actions were inappropriate and merit discipline.
The “primary focus” of my article was in raising a question about Dr. Harris’ judgment. Because he is the elected representative of the First District, it is appropriate to do so. Had Dr. Harris been a liberal Democrat, I would have been similarly outraged. In other forums, I have criticized liberal Democrats as well as President Biden and some of his appointees.
In any case, I appreciate your reading the piece and commenting.
Suzette Stitely says
Doctors are bound by law to physically examine a patient before prescribing medicine. Since he gave up practicing medicine to go to Congress, how does he get around this law. This should be investigated by the Maryland Medical Board.
John Dean says
Thank you for reading the article. I believe Dr. Harris is still practicing medicine. He is affiliated with the University of Maryland Shore Medical Center (and referenced on their website) and, I believe, other institutions.
I have no information on whether Harris examined the patient before prescribing the medicine. I also don’t have direct information on whether he actually followed-through on the prescription. If he did prescribe ivermectin, I would assume he examined the patient.