Latest news with #TomTakubo
Yahoo
08-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
WV Senate Health Committee resurrects school vaccine bill that allows religious exemptions
Sen. Tom Takubo, R-Kanawha, a physician, argued against an amendment to Senate Bill 2776 that would add religious exemptions to vaccines, pointing out a growing measles outbreak in Texas that has been linked to the deaths of two children. (Will Price | West Virginia Legislative Photography) With less than a week to go during the West Virginia Legislature's regular session, a Senate committee on Monday resurrected legislation that would loosen the state's strict school vaccination laws. The Senate Health Committee approved a version of House Bill 2776 that incorporates the language of Senate Bill 460 with slight changes. The House of Delegates narrowly voted down Senate Bill 460 last month. As it passed the House of Delegates, House Bill 2776 would have required that the state Department of Health report positive tests of Alpha-gal syndrome, an allergic condition related to tick bites, to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. HB 2776 S HHR S&I 4-7 The Senate Health Committee's version of the bill now would add religious exemptions to the state's vaccine requirements and allow a student's health care provider to submit a medical exemption without needing approval from the state immunization officer, which would be eliminated under the bill. Sen. Joey Garcia, D-Marion, argued that the amendment is not germane to the original bill and could violate a constitutional rule that requires that bills have one subject. Committee Chair Laura Chapman, who had advocated for religious vaccine exemptions, ruled that the amendment is germane because the bill has to do with disease prevention and the state's public health system. Garcia opposed the amendment, saying that he had heard more negative opinions about Senate Bill 460 than anything else this legislative session. 'After that 42 to 56 vote rejecting this bill in the West Virginia House of Delegates, my hope would be maybe the people around this table and the people in the Senate would take a second look,' Garcia said. 'Because this is one of the most hugely unpopular and just honestly wrong things that we could be doing for the state of West Virginia.' Sen. Tom Takubo, R-Kanawha, a physician, also argued against the amendment, with comments about a growing measles outbreak in Texas that has so far been linked to the deaths of two children, and other preventable illnesses. 'There's an adage in medicine, 'First, do no harm.' There's so much in today's world that these kids have to worry about. Dying and struggling from these completely preventable childhood diseases shouldn't be one of them,' Takubo said. 'This Legislature is dead set on putting our kids in harm's way. 'If we do what this bill is trying to do, we're going to go from one of the best [vaccinated] to one of the worst in just a matter of years,' he said. 'We're the worst vaccinated state in the country until it's time to go to school. Then we become one of the best.' Under the new version of the bill, parents and guardians or emancipated students could annually submit a notarized statement to their school or child care center administrator on a form created by the state department of health that says the person holds a religious belief that is opposed to vaccination and that they have reviewed information about vaccinations provided by the department. There's also an exemption for full-time virtual students. Schools would be required to create and maintain reports including the number and percentage of students granted exemptions. The bill, in its current version, would not allow the state's religious and private schools to set their own policies for vaccination requirements. All states require students to be vaccinated for a series of infectious diseases including measles, polio and chickenpox. Until this year, West Virginia was among five states that did not allow exemptions to those requirements based on religious or philosophical beliefs. The state's laws have only allowed medical exemptions, which have required the approval of the state's immunization officer. Gov. Patrick Morrisey issued an executive order in January requiring the state to allow religious exemptions on his second day in office. According to the state Department of Health, the state approved 186 religious exemptions in the approximately two months after Morrisey's executive order. The bill will next go to the full Senate for three readings and then a vote. The House of Delegates would next have to sign off on the bill, a version of which it's already voted down. The regular session of the Legislature ends Saturday at midnight. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
11-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
WV Senate Health committee advances bill allowing over-the-counter sale of ivermectin
Sen. Tom Takubo, R-Kanawha, attends the Senate Committee on Health and Human Resources meeting on March 4, 2025 in Charleston, (Will Price | West Virginia Legislative Photography) Lawmakers on the West Virginia Senate Health Committee advanced a bill Tuesday that, if made law, will allow pharmacists in the state to sell ivermectin for human use over the counter and without a prescription. Senate Bill 614 hinges upon the federal Food and Drug Administration approving the drug — which is commonly prescribed for animals to treat some parasites — for human use in wider circumstances than currently allowed. Different formulations of ivermectin that are made specifically for humans are, occasionally, prescribed to treat people with topical conditions or infections that stem from parasitic worms, according to the FDA. While some medical providers have prescribed the drug for off-label uses — meaning uses different than what clinical trials have shown it is safe and effective to treat and what it's been approved for by the FDA — the federal government does not recommend that they do so. Interest in and pushes for the wider use of ivermectin became common during and after the COVID-19 pandemic, when people alleged that the drug could help treat infections from the virus. To date, no clinical trials or peer-reviewed evidence have been accepted by the FDA to support such claims. The drug became a common talking point for COVID-19 conspiracists and, due to this misinformation, health leaders urged the public not to use the drug for off-label purposes, citing concerns over other medications that could be contraindicated and different formulations of it that could be safe for animal consumption but not for humans. In the Senate Health committee on Tuesday, Sen. Tom Takubo, R-Kanawha, said there could be some risk in taking the drug. Takubo, who is a doctor by trade, continued by saying this could be especially true if people are unaware of how it interacts with other medications and in situations where a patient isn't being monitored by a health care provider. 'So there are some concerns,' Takubo said. 'Ivermectin, for the most part, is a pretty well-tolerated medication when taken in appropriate doses.' Takubo said potential side effects of the drug include changes to the heart's rhythm which could, in serious circumstances, lead to fatal arrhythmia. The drug has also been shown, Takubo said, to potentially increase liver toxicity in patients, especially if taken at the wrong dosages. During COVID-19 — specifically, Takubo said, 'early on, when we really had nothing' to treat the infections — Takubo worked in an intensive care unit where ivermectin was being used on patients admitted with severe coronavirus infections. In those circumstances, however, patients were being closely monitored by physicians. They would receive daily electrocardiograms so providers could survey heart functions and doctors would regularly test liver enzymes to ensure the drug wasn't leading to unintended risks. 'So if you're taking any medications that also affect heart rhythm or affect liver function, etc, it can potentiate that and cause that,' Takubo said. '… My concern is, if a patient doesn't get the proper education there could be some adverse consequences of that.' SB 614, as it is currently written, says that pharmacists 'shall provide the patient with the FDA-approved patient information sheet on Ivermectin at the time of sale.' Over-the-counter medications, however, don't necessarily require that a pharmacist be involved when they are purchased. The bill also states that pharmacists will not be held liable for any adverse interactions that come from someone purchasing ivermectin from them. In committee, a conceptual amendment from Sen. Tom Willis, R-Berkeley, would have made it so the ivermectin would only be available 'behind the counter,' but still without a prescription. That way, he said, the pharmacist could 'have conversation with the patient' and look for 'possible conflicts' that could arise from other prescribed medications. Sen. Patricia Rucker, R-Jefferson, said that while it's clear no one wants anyone to be taking a medication that is contraindicated against their other medications, a risk of such will always exist with over-the-counter medications. Look at Tylenol, she said. Willis said that he didn't believe Tylenol and ivermectin are comparable in this circumstance. 'I'm a freemarket-guy, and I'm a big-boy-pants-guy in general, and I want as few restrictions on decisions as possible, but it's a question of where this lands on the risk continuum,' Willis said. 'So as I would understand it — and again, I'm not an expert — but Tylenol would be lower on the risk continuum than ivermectin when you're talking about confluence with other drugs.' After further discussion, however, Willis pulled his amendment since the bill — as it currently stands — would only be relevant if the FDA took steps to approve the drug and change its labeled use in the first place. The bill passed the committee via voice vote and will now advance to the Senate Judiciary Committee for consideration before it goes before the whole Senate. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
24-02-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
There's no civil liberties problem with requiring WV public school students to be fully vaccinated
Sen. Tom Takubo, R-Kanawha, a doctor, was one of 12 votes against a senate bill allowing religious exemptions for vaccinations. (Will Price | West Virginia Legislative Photography) Does West Virginia's vaccine mandate for public school students violate civil liberties? Some in the state Legislature and Governor's Mansion seem to think so. ACLU-WV disagrees. For 105 years, the ACLU has defended religious freedom. One of our landmark religious freedom cases was right here in West Virginia — Barnette v. Board of Education, in which ACLU attorneys successfully represented Jehovah's Witness students in Kanawha County who refused to salute the flag during the height of nationalism in WWII. We also haven't been shy about vigorously defending bodily autonomy over the years in supporting abortion rights, gender-affirming care and more. But we see no civil liberties problem with requiring students to be fully vaccinated in order to attend school. When rights come into conflict with each other, they must be carefully weighed. In the case of vaccine mandates, it's important to remember that no right is absolute and that we do not have the right to inflict harm on other people. West Virginia children have a right under the state Constitution and numerous court rulings to a free education. That includes students who have conditions that might make them more susceptible to certain illnesses or make vaccines ineffective. Their lives and their education depend on their classmates being fully inoculated. Vaccine requirements also safeguard those who work in our school system, from teachers, to cafeteria workers, to bus drivers. While vaccine mandates are not always permissible, they rarely run afoul of civil liberties when they involve highly infectious and dangerous diseases. Even though the FDA and independent medical experts have long found that required vaccines are effective and safe (outside of the rare allergic or adverse reaction) a torrent of online misinformation has led a growing number of people to object to them under the pretense of religious objections. And now, West Virginia legislators are pandering to the misinformed. Senate Bill 460, which has already passed the state Senate and now heads to the House of Delegates, violates the rights of vulnerable students. It allows parents to cite vague religious or moral positions to exempt their children from vaccine requirements and still attend public schools. It is telling that the Senate's only remaining medical doctor, Sen. Tom Takubo, R-Kanawha, was among the 12 'no' votes on the bill. Takubo should also be commended for repeatedly trying to reduce the bill's harm by offering amendments to weaken it during the committee process. His Senate colleagues rejected all of them. As the bill enters the House, we encourage delegates to follow Dr. Takubo's lead — and protect the constitutional rights of vulnerable kids. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
