XPost: alt.atheism, alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, alt.politics.usa.republican   
   XPost: alt.politics.democrats.d, alt.politics.trump, alt.religio   
   .christian.roman-catholic   
   XPost: alt.politics, alt.politics.democrats, alt.politics.republicans   
   XPost: talk.politics.guns   
   From: js@phendrie.con   
      
   Some people are self-medicating with a dubious COVID-19 treatment, but they   
   aren't overwhelming doctors and nurses.   
      
   ROBBY SOAVE | 9.6.2021 4:19 PM   
      
   KFOR, an Oklahoma news channel, reported last week that rural hospitals   
   throughout the state were in danger of becoming overwhelmed by victims of a   
   very   
   specific poisoning: overdoses of ivermectin, an anti-parasite drug promoted by   
   vaccine skeptics as a possible treatment for COVID-19.   
      
   The story went viral, and was seized upon by the mainstream media. But its   
   central claim is substantially untrue.   
      
   The meat of the story is a series of quotes from an Oklahoma doctor, Jason   
   McElyea, who appears to attribute overcrowding at local hospitals to a deluge   
   of   
   ivermectin overdoses.   
      
   "The ERs are so backed up that gunshot victims were having hard times getting   
   to   
   facilities where they can get definitive care and be treated," McElyea told   
   KFOR's Katelyn Ogle.   
      
   The story ran under the headline: "Patients overdosing on ivermectin backing up   
   rural Oklahoma hospitals, ambulances." It was quickly picked up by national   
   news   
   outlets, such as Rolling Stone, Newsweek, and the New York Daily News. Numerous   
   high-profile media figures, including MSNBC's Rachel Maddow, tweeted about   
   ivermectin overdoses straining Oklahoma hospitals—the implication being that   
   the   
   right-wing embrace of a crank COVID-19 cure was dangerous not only for the   
   people who consumed it but for the stability of the entire medical system.   
      
   It was a story that appeared to confirm many of the mainstream media's biases   
   about the recklessness of the rubes. But it's extremely misleading. There is,   
   in   
   fact, little reason to believe a purported strain on Oklahoma hospitals is   
   caused by ivermectin overdoses; one hospital served by the doctor quoted in the   
   KFOR article released a statement saying it has not treated any ivermectin   
   overdoses, nor has it been forced to turn away patients.   
      
   This is yet another example of the mainstream media lazily circulating a   
   narrative that flatters the worldview of the liberal audience, without   
   bothering   
   to check on any of the details. Additional reporting was sorely needed here,   
   and   
   has now completely undermined the central point of the story.   
      
   It's instructive to take a closer look at what went wrong. Rolling Stone's   
   version of the story, for instance, quoted from McElyea's interview with KFOR   
   and did not provide any additional reporting or independently verified   
   information. The image that accompanied the article on Twitter featured people   
   waiting in long lines while wearing winter coats—which does not inspire great   
   confidence that Rolling Stone knows what season it is in Oklahoma at   
   present—and   
   was summarized thusly: "Gunshot victims left waiting as horse dewormer   
   overdoses   
   overwhelm Oklahoma hospitals, doctor says."   
      
   Rolling Stone has now appended an update at the top of the story, clarifying   
   that there were 459 cases of ivermectin overdoses in the U.S. during the month   
   of August, and though a state-by-state breakdown is not available, it would be   
   surprising if this was straining the Oklahoma medical system. That's because   
   the   
   state is currently experiencing a seven-day average of 1,528 hospitalizations   
   due to COVID-19. If they're running out of beds and ambulances, it's because of   
   the virus, not ivermectin. This was something Rolling Stone could have figured   
   out on its own had the magazine bothered to contact any hospitals in Oklahoma,   
   but alas.   
      
   https://reason.com/2021/09/06/ivermectin-overdoses-oklahoma-hosp   
   tals-rolling-stone-hoax/   
      
   Note that the big three newspapers — NY Times, WaPo and LA Times,   
   collectively   
   known as The Gold Standard — were not fooled.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)