In the first week of the 89th Legislature's second special session, which adjourned Wednesday night, Gov. Greg Abbott added easing the purchase of ivermectin to the lawmakers’ agenda. The word ivermectin , which sounds like it should be the name of a two-headed bug, may not ring a bell unless you have a peculiar interest in livestock, parasites and pseudoscience, or for a rare group, all three.

That’s because ivermectin is most commonly used to deworm horses. It’s also the go-to in treating onchocerciasis, or river blindness, a parasitic infection most commonly contracted from the disease-carrying black flies found in rivers in tropical environments. The anti-paralytic drug, which can be found in an injectable single dose composed for horses at tractor supply stores, and in an oral tabl

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