Rolling Stone Magazine, a publication notorious for publishing hoaxes, just did it again.
Last week the publication claimed hospitals in Oklahoma were so overwhelmed with people "overdosing" on the horse wormer version of Ivermectin that people having heart attacks, gunshot wounds or other health emergencies couldn't get timely medical treatment.
The rise in people using ivermectin, an anti-parasitic drug usually reserved for deworming horses or livestock, as a treatment or preventative for Covid-19 has emergency rooms “so backed up that gunshot victims were having hard times getting” access to health facilities, an emergency room doctor in Oklahoma said.
This week, Dr. Jason McElyea told KFOR the overdoses are causing backlogs in rural hospitals, leaving both beds and ambulance services scarce.
“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 said.
“All of their ambulances are stuck at the hospital waiting for a bed to open so they can take the patient in and they don’t have any, that’s it,” said McElyea. “If there’s no ambulance to take the call, there’s no ambulance to come to the call.”
Turns out, the story was totally bogus.
First, for context, here’s the original piece from @RollingStone and the follow up from the actual hospital saying the story was BS and that the one (one!) person the story quotes doesn’t work at that hospital anymore (and hasn’t in months). pic.twitter.com/6k4FjaQWD3
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) September 5, 2021
Not surprisingly, the permanent pandemic left widely proliferated the story before it was updated.
Rolling Stone has now issued a second "update" that effectively retracts its false story that gunshot victims are waiting in ER rooms in Oklahoma due to overflow from ivermectin poisoning, yet @maddow still has her tweet up from 4 days ago promoting it, with no subsequent note: pic.twitter.com/RyBO4Lc0Zc
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) September 6, 2021
The number of resistance libs who will spread totally made up, debunked crap because it confirms their priors is staggering.
— Matt Whitlock (@mattdizwhitlock) September 5, 2021
The source was discredited, the hospital came out and said it was crap, but @Twitter let’s it stand and libs spread it anyway. https://t.co/VbzZGbDUuj pic.twitter.com/GqOODdnJIW
The only reason Rolling Stone is calling this an "UPDATE" as opposed to what it so plainly is -- a RETRACTION -- is because liberal outlets know that their readers don't care at all if they publish fake news as long as it's done with the right political motives and goals. https://t.co/2nRaD5EbXk
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) September 5, 2021
And as a reminder, Ivermectin won a Nobel Prize for human use in 2015. From NobelPrize.org:
William C. Campbell, an expert in parasite biology working in the USA, acquired Omura’s Streptomyces cultures and explored their efficacy. Campbell showed that a component from one of the cultures was remarkably efficient against parasites in domestic and farm animals. The bioactive agent was purified and named Avermectin, which was subsequently chemically modified to a more effective compound called Ivermectin. Ivermectin was later tested in humans with parasitic infections and effectively killed parasite larvae (microfilaria) (Figure 3). Collectively, Omura and Campbell’s contributions led to the discovery of a new class of drugs with extraordinary efficacy against parasitic diseases.
The discoveries of Avermectin and Artemisinin have fundamentally changed the treatment of parasitic diseases. Today the Avermectin-derivative Ivermectin is used in all parts of the world that are plagued by parasitic diseases. Ivermectin is highly effective against a range of parasites, has limited side effects and is freely available across the globe. The importance of Ivermectin for improving the health and wellbeing of millions of individuals with River Blindness and Lymphatic Filariasis, primarily in the poorest regions of the world, is immeasurable. Treatment is so successful that these diseases are on the verge of eradication, which would be a major feat in the medical history of humankind. Malaria infects close to 200 million individuals yearly. Artemisinin is used in all Malaria-ridden parts of the world. When used in combination therapy, it is estimated to reduce mortality from Malaria by more than 20% overall and by more than 30% in children. For Africa alone, this means that more than 100 000 lives are saved each year.
The discoveries of Avermectin and Artemisinin have revolutionized therapy for patients suffering from devastating parasitic diseases. Campbell, Omura and Tu have transformed the treatment of parasitic diseases. The global impact of their discoveries and the resulting benefit to mankind are immeasurable.
In 2017 Rolling Stone Magazine paid a University of Virginia Fraternity $1.6 million after being sued for defamation and falsely accusing its members of rape.