Maddow Doesn’t Delete Tweet Promoting False Oklahoma Story

MSNBC host Rachel Maddow has but to delete a tweet selling a c0ntested story about rural Oklahoma hospitals being overwhelmed with sufferers taking the veterinary drugs ivermectin to deal with Covid-19 – an unproven therapy.

“Patients overdosing on ivermectin backing up rural Oklahoma hospitals, ambulances,” tweeted Maddow on Sept. 2, quoting the headline of the piece that week by NBC’s Oklahoma City affiliate KFOR.

“’The scariest one I’ve heard of and seen is people coming in with vision loss,’ he said,” added Maddow, quoting the physician behind the debunked story, Jason McElyea.

“Patients overdosing on ivermectin backing up rural Oklahoma hospitals, ambulances”

“‘The scariest one I’ve heard of and seen is people coming in with vision loss,’ he said.”https://t.co/P909GtxBQZ

— Rachel Maddow MSNBC (@maddow) September 2, 2021

McElyea instructed KFOR, “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.”

The hospital system that McElyea referenced – the Northeastern Hospital System – refuted his claims and stated in a press release that McElyea is just not an worker, “but 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,” continued the assertion. “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,” stated NHS. “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.”

Rolling Stone, Insider, Newsweek, The Guardian and The New York Daily News reported the KFOR story, which has but to be up to date with the assertion from the hospital system. Rolling Stone, Insider and The Guardian have included the assertion, whereas Newsweek and The New York Daily News haven’t.

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