State pharmacy board intervenes to stop run on lupus drug amid virus outbreak

Pharmacies have seen a run on the drugs, including one President Donald Trump recently name-dropped, and patients who need them to suppress auto-immune diseases are worried they won't be able to get them.

States Say Doctors Are Stockpiling Trial Coronavirus Drugs — For Themselves

The drugs also can't be prescribed as a preventative measure – that is, before a COVID-19 diagnosis.

The rules don't apply to patients in hospitals or to people with prescriptions in place prior to March 10.

The drugs affected by the emergency order are: hydroxychloroquine, chloroquine, lopinavir-ritonavir, ribavirin, oseltamivir, darunavir and azithromycyin. They are sold under a number of brand names, and some are used to treat malaria.

"The search for potential treatments for COVID-19 has caused shortages and threatens to cause further shortages in certain drugs," the board said in its announcement Tuesday afternoon.

Secretary of Health and Human Services Dr. Mandy Cohen and State Health Director Dr. Elizabeth Tilson asked the board to adopt the rules, the announcement says, "in order to alleviate shortages and ensure that these drugs are available to patients who need them."

Cohen and Tilson have asked the North Carolina Medical Board for a similar rule covering doctors, the announcement states.