Florida Nurse Takes 31 Years of Bedside Conviction to Capitol Hill

West Cocoa Pharmacy & Compounding salutes Donna Lowrey, RN, for testifying at a U.S. Senate COVID-19 roundtable: “It takes courage to stand up for your values.”

COCOA, FL, FL, UNITED STATES, September 29, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Yesterday, West Cocoa Pharmacy & Compounding, a Florida based, local independent pharmacy, recognized Donna Lowery, RN, a Central Florida nurse who recently testified on Capitol Hill about the professional price she paid for advocating for a patient during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Lowery was one of 21 patients, family members, doctors and nurses who spoke Monday, September 28th, at “COVID-19 Hospital Protocols: Real Stories from Real People,” a roundtable convened by U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) in the Kennedy Caucus Room of the Russell Senate Office Building. Johnson’s office billed it as the first of his COVID-related events devoted entirely to what happened inside hospitals.

A registered nurse since 1987, Lowrey spent 31 years at the same community hospital in Titusville, Florida. She told the panel she was fired after advocating for a hospitalized COVID-19 patient and recommending Ivermectin, which the patient’s physician ordered. Per the family, the patient declined after the drug was stopped, was placed on a ventilator and died.

“I paid for that decision, but I would make it again,” Lowery told the panel.

“It takes a lot of courage to stand up for your values in an increasingly corporate-driven healthcare world,” said Dawn Butterfield RPh, West Cocoa Pharmacy & Compounding owner. “Donna Lowery spent three decades at the bedside. When she saw a patient and a family who needed an advocate, she spoke up - knowing exactly what it could cost her. That is what a healthcare professional is supposed to do.”

For Florida’s independent pharmacists, that pressure is familiar. Every day, local pharmacies push back against pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) and other corporate middlemen that override the judgment of physicians and pharmacists with decisions driven by profit rather than patient need.
“Whether it’s a hospital boardroom or a PBM formulary, the people closest to the patient are too often the last ones consulted,” Butterfield said. “Donna’s testimony is a reminder that the most important voice in patient care belongs to the professional who actually knows the patient. We’re proud to stand with her.”

The full roundtable can be viewed here. Senator Johnson’s office continues to collect testimonies through the COVID Hospital Protocols survey at ronjohnson.senate.gov.

Dawn Butterfield, RPh
West Cocoa Pharmacy and Compounding
cocoapharmacy@gmail.com