Kansas lawmaker, advocate of unproven COVID treatments says he’s under scrutiny by board

A Kansas state senator and physician who has been a leading champion of ivermectin and other unproven COVID-19 treatments said Wednesday he is under investigation by the state board that licenses medical professionals.

Sen. Mark Steffen, a Hutchinson Republican, disclosed the inquiry during a hearing of the Senate Public Health and Welfare Committee. The panel is considering a bill supported by Steffen to require pharmacists to fill prescriptions for ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine when used to treat the coronavirus. The bill would also require a review of any actions taken by the board against physicians who prescribed those treatments since March 2020.

“I, too, have been investigated by – or I am under investigation – by the board for a year and a half now. They clearly have no interest in resolving this,” Steffen said.

Steffen accused the board of holding the investigation over him “to think they’re going to silence me” but said it wouldn’t work out.

“None of it is patient-based complaints. It’s all what I’ve said in the public and what I’ve said as a county commissioner,” said Steffen, who was a Reno County commissioner before his election to the Senate in 2020.

“I stand by everything I said,” Steffen said, “and again we’ve got board overreach that desperately needs to be put under control.”

The Board of Healing Arts’ website lists Steffen’s license as current. No board actions are shown.

It’s unclear what specifically the board is investigating. The Kansas Constitution may also limit the board’s authority to take action against Steffen based on comments made during Senate proceedings. The constitution says that for “any speech, written document or debate in either house, the members shall not be questioned elsewhere.”

The board decline to comment on Wednesday saying complaints and investigations are confidential.

Speaking to reporters, Steffen declined to provide more details on the ongoing investigation.

“I would welcome the Board of Healing Arts to have an open investigation. I would love to bring the data because what they’re relying on is empty, broad stroke brushes and a lack of scientific data,” Steffen said.

Steffen, who graduated from the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine in 1989, is an anesthesiologist in Great Bend.

In the Senate, Steffen has quickly earned a reputation as a hard-right lawmaker willing to take up the cause of COVID-19 vaccination opponents and promote treatments long since discounted by the medical establishment. In a brief interview, Steffen acknowledged he had prescribed ivermectin to patients for COVID-19 but refused to say whether or not a pharmacist had filled that prescription or if the prescription had truly helped.

“In Hutchinson, I’ve basically run out of pharmacies that will prescribe ivermectin still,” Steffen said on a podcast released this month by Kansans for Health Freedom, an anti-vaccine group.

Ivermectin is a drug widely used for de-worming livestock but has some, limited, application in human medicine. The Food and Drug Administration has warned against use of ivermectin to treat COVID-19 as it has not been shown to be effective and can be dangerous in large doses.

Controversial Record

During his time on the Reno County Commission, Steffen stirred controversy — he once invited a purveyor of essential oils to address commissioners about how they could be used during the pandemic, the Kansas Reflector reported last year.

On Wednesday, Steffen also attacked Steven Stites, the chief medical officer of the University of Kansas Health System, calling him the “Kansas doctor Fauci.” Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institutes of Health, has become a target of criticism among Republicans.

“A lot of this propaganda and broad sweeping statements are being made by KU Health System employed doctors, such as Dr. Stites,” Steffen said. After his testimony, Steffen told reporters he’d like to invite Stites and other KU doctors to a debate over COVID-19 treatment.

Stites has gained prominence during the pandemic through regular online video briefings where he and other KU doctors dispense advice and provide updates on hospital capacity.

In an interview, Stites said he hadn’t heard the comments.

“This virus doesn’t care if you’re a red state or a blue state,” Stites said. “The virus only cares about doing one thing and that’s infecting you and reproducing.”