Nebraska’s Attorney General offers opinion on controversial COVID-19 treatments

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) - On Friday Nebraska’s attorney general says he won’t seek disciplinary action against doctors who prescribe controversial, off-label drugs to treat and prevent coronavirus infections.

Attorney General Doug Peterson says this is only if doctors get informed consent from patients and don’t engage in misconduct.

The Attorney Generals’ office released a legal opinion saying it didn’t see data to justify legal action against health care professionals who prescribe ivermectin, a decades-old parasite treatment, or hydroxychloroquine, a malaria drug that former President Donald Trump took to try to prevent a COVID-19 infection.

Many health experts and leading medical groups have been trying to stop the use of both drugs, arguing that they can cause harmful side effects and there’s little evidence they help.