EDMONTON — Albertans wasted no time pointing out the irony of Alberta NDP Leader Naheed Nenshi turning to Ivermectin, a drug he previously called "horse paste", to help treat his rare chronic face condition. Nenshi informed the public during a virtual town hall on Tuesday that he has been suffering from Morbihan Syndrome, a rare chronic condition that can cause firm swelling in the upper two-thirds of his face, after one viewer expressed concern about Nenshi's health and his eye acting "unusual." Nenshi added that he has been dealing with the disease for some time, and that the effects were merely cosmetic.He later said that although other treatments have not been effective, Ivermectin has helped reduce the effects. "So there you go, folks, Ivermectin actually does work for something," Nenshi said.His comment pokes fun at comments made by him in 2023, in which he mocked the medication and the idea of it being an alternative treatment to help mitigate COVID–19 effects of individuals infected. "Gee, thanks for letting me know. How are those horse paste sales going?" Nenshi wrote, referring to Ivermectin, in a 2023 X post, in reply to a post that has since been deleted. .Though the sarcastic comment was written nearly three years ago, many of Nenshi's online critics have long memories. .Ivermicten is a medication used to deworm horses, but it is also used to treat parasite illnesses in humans, such as river blindness and other worm infections. Some studies conducted during the COVID–19 pandemic found that the medication could be effective in reducing the effects of COVID–19. Others found that it was not, and can cause harm to humans. AHS would not allow Ivermectin to be used to combat the virus in Alberta. "Although some early studies into the use of ivermectin against COVID-19 suggested possible benefit, none of the recent high-quality trials where results have been reviewed and assessed have supported these findings," reads an AHS statement from 2021. "There are genuine concerns of fraudulent data being reported from some of the early trials, and the largest trial that supported ivermectin use has already been withdrawn as a result of data fraud."A later 2025 report, commissioned by Premier Danielle Smith, recommended that doctors be given the ability to prescribe alternative treatments, such as Ivermectin, in the event of a future pandemic. The report was criticized by some of Alberta's medical experts, and Nenshi called it "authoritarian" and "quackery."Speaking about Morbihan Syndrome, Nenshi said on Tuesday that he has been dealing with the disease for some time, and that the effects were meerly cosmetic. "The challenge is, of course, in this job, purely cosmetic, when you're on TV every day, means a lot of kind people like (concerned viewer), go, are you okay? And give me great ideas about things to take down the swelling on my face."
