The Texas House on Wednesday passed a bill that would make ivermectin — a drug used mostly in this country to treat livestock for parasites — available to Texans without a prescription.
The latest legislative action moves Texas closer to becoming the fifth state to approve the over-the-counter sale of the drug after it became popular as an unproven treatment for COVID-19.
House Bill 25 filed by state Rep. Joanne Shofner, R-Nacogdoches, passed the House, 87-47, after an energetic, three-hour debate along party lines. Shofner, surrounded by more than 20 Republicans at one point, argued her bill was championing medical freedom, giving Texans better access to a drug particularly outside cities where pharmacies outnumber physicians. Her bill does not put ivermectin on pharmacy shelves, but if it passes the Senate and becomes law, the drug would be available upon request from behind the pharmacist’s counter as Texans already do for other drugs, like Sudafed.
“It’s absolutely important for our rural communities — and there’s a lot of people in urban communities that are not able to get to their doctor — that they have more access to their pharmacist than they would their health care practitioner,” she said on Wednesday from the House floor. “It’s already behind the pharmacy counter. This is not a new thing.”
Ivermectin has remained relevant since the COVID-era zeitgeist that fueled skepticism of mainstream medicine and the health care system at large. Medical freedom advocates want to remove barriers that prevent them from taking whatever medication they say will make them healthier — especially if it’s an alternative to vaccines — even if its effectiveness is debatable. And, ivermectin is a model for their beliefs.
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Shofner filed an identical bill during the regular session but the House didn’t vote on it, despite 58 pages of online testimony filed by residents who want to be able to access it without a prescription. This time around, her bill comes with the support of Gov. Greg Abbott who put ivermectin access on his expanded priority list last week after Texans for Vaccine Choice sent 7,000 signatures in support of the drug.
“Like penicillin and aspirin, ivermectin is a safe, affordable medicine with minimal side effects,” Shofner said.
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Noticeably absent from the testimony was the Texas Board of Pharmacy whose members would be directly affected by the bill. The agency did not return a request for comment.
Michelle Evans with Texans for Vaccine Choice said the bill would return the decision-making process to patients.
“HB 25 is simple and long overdue and a shared priority for many in our state, including constituents in each of your districts,” she said. “It would enable Texans to take their health into their own hands.”
Who am I to argue with that kind of logic? But why stop there? Put a shot of ivermectin in your morning coffee! Use it to fertilize your lawn! Let Bahama Mama’s sell ivermectin gummies so they can stay in business after Dan Patrick bans THC! I’s sure someone is working on the Ivermectin Diet book as we speak. The sky’s the limit, let your dreams run wild. The Current has more.