Gov. Greg Abbott and Texas legislators want to expand access to a controversial drug popularized during the coronavirus pandemic.

House Bill 25 could make Ivermectin accessible at Texas pharmacies without a prescription.

Ivermectin is a drug typically used to treat parasites, according to Dr. Bryan Alsip, the Chief Medical Officer for University Health.

“The kinds of parasites you might get from traveling in foreign countries, Strongyloides or Onchocerca, which is river blindness,” Alsip said.

More than 99 percent of people infected with river blindness live in Africa or Yemen, according to the World Health Organization, but people from the U.S. can still get infected while traveling overseas.

Alsip said doctors can use Ivermectin as a treatment for more common parasites in the U.S.,

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