Legislation filed in the Texas House would allow Texans to purchase ivermectin over the counter, after its use was discouraged by the Biden administration’s FDA.
State Rep. Wes Virdell (R-Brady) has introduced House Bill 3175 to “authorize a pharmacist to dispense ivermectin without a health care practitioner’s prescription order.”
“During COVID, I watched people ignoring known, proven science for things such as ivermectin to fight against this stuff, and I watched an entire country pushing for an untested, unknown vaccine,” explained Virdell. “They ignored known science and pushed untested science, and they were claiming that anyone who ignored the untested science was therefore not supporting science.”
Japanese microbiologist Satoshi Omura and Irish parasitologist William C. Campbell discovered ivermectin in 1975, eventually earning the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2015. Initially used to treat heartworms and mites in veterinary medicine, it received FDA approval for humans in 1987.
Despite decades of use, however, the FDA and media politicized and weaponized ivermectin during the COVID-19 lockdowns.
Texas-based Dr. Mary Talley Bowden had reported that humans have used ivermectin for decades as an anti-parasitic prophylactic.
In response, the FDA discouraged people from using ivermectin to prevent or treat COVID-19. A now-deleted tweet stated, “You are not a horse. You are not a cow. Seriously y’all. Stop it.”
In 2024, the FDA settled with Bowden and two other doctors who claimed such statements had harmed their practices. The FDA’s attorney even later admitted in a Project Veritas secret recording that the FDA’s demonizing of ivermectin was a mistake.
Even with a prescription, Texans have difficulty obtaining ivermectin.
Virdell told Texas Scorecard how one state representative recently went to a major pharmacy chain with an ivermectin prescription, but the pharmacists refused to fill the request.
Virdell stated that similar rejections happened in Tennessee, which was the first state to remove restrictions on ivermectin prescriptions three years ago.
Still, he credits Tennessee for leading the way on this issue.
“I’m tired of watching Tennessee’s legislature pass important legislation before the Texas Legislature does,” said Virdell. “I want to call out Texas for being lackadaisical and always following instead of leading.”
He hopes that as more states pass similar bills into law, they will encourage a national bill allowing the over-the-counter purchase of ivermectin for human consumption.
“Unfortunately, people are having to go buy it in animal form instead of being able to buy it for human consumption,” said Virdell. “People should easily be able to go to a pharmacy and get ivermectin without resistance.”
“We actually have a lot of support in the Texas State House for this bill, and we’re going to have a lot of co-authors on this bill by the time that we turn our co-author sheet in,” added Virdell.
He told Texas Scorecard that since his post this weekend seeking co-author support, he received public confirmation from State Reps. Shelley Luther (R-Sherman), Andy Hopper (R-Decatur), Nate Schatzline (R-Fort Worth), Janis Holt (R-Silsbee), Briscoe Cain (R-Deer Park), and Daniel Alders (R-Tyler). Virdell also said State Rep. Cody Vasut (R-Angleton) just agreed to co-author.
Virdell has also introduced a bill banning mRNA vaccines.
“The amount of damage that … the mRNA shots have caused the people with no ability to seek civil justice on it is unfair, so that’s why I filed the ban of the mRNA bill,” said Virdell. “These two bills go together.”
State Sen. Bob Hall (R-Edgewood) introduced a related bill that requires food labels to inform consumers when the product has been injected with an mRNA vaccine.
These bills support the Republican Party of Texas’ priority of Ending Federal Overreach while upholding RPT planks 114, 117, and 159.
“People should be able to pursue the medical treatment of their preference without government obstructing their ability to receive that medical attention or medical treatment,” Virdell concluded.
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