By Terri Langford, The Texas Tribune

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

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