Rolling Stone Blasted Over False Story on Oklahoma Hospitals Turning Away Gunshot Victims for Patients Who Took Ivermectin

Jackson RichmanSep 6th, 2021, 1:38 pm
 

Rolling Stone Oklahoma ivermectin story

Rolling Stone has come under fire for sharing a dubious story about rural hospitals in Oklahoma being overwhelmed by those taking the veterinary medicine ivermectin to treat Covid-19 – an unproven treatment.

The original story appeared last week in NBC’s Oklahoma City affiliate KFOR and quoted a doctor affiliated with a rural hospital system who made the claim about the hospitals being overwhelmed with patients who took ivermectin to treat Covid-19.

“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,” Jason McElyea told the outlet.

Rolling Stone ran with that specific angle and shared their story on their Twitter page in a Sept. 3 post that has yet to be deleted.

In a statement, the hospital system – the Northeastern Hospital System – said:

Although Dr. Jason McElyea is not an employee of NHS Sequoyah, he is affiliated with a medical staffing group that provides coverage for our emergency room.

With that said, Dr. McElyea has not worked at our Sallisaw location in over 2 months.
NHS Sequoyah has not treated any patients due to complications related to taking ivermectin. This includes not treating any patients for ivermectin overdose.

All patients who have visited our emergency room have received medical attention as appropriate. Our hospital has not had to turn away any patients seeking emergency care.

We want to reassure our community that our staff is working hard to provide quality healthcare to all patients. We appreciate the opportunity to clarify this issue and as always, we value our community’s support.

In addition to Rolling Stone, Insider, Newsweek, The Guardian and The New York Daily News reported the KFOR story, which has yet to be updated with the statement from the hospital system. Along with Rolling Stone, Insider and The Guardian have included the statement, while Newsweek and The New York Daily News have not.

Verified Twitter users blasted the Rolling Stone piece.

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