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Rolling Stone slammed for FAKE story about Oklahoma patients overdosing on ivermectin

MSNBC's Rachel Maddow and other publications like Newsweek and The Guardian also shared Dr McElyea's fake account of patients overdosing on ivermectin

When Rolling Stone shared a story about Oklahoma hospitals being overwhelmed by patients overdosing on the drug ivermectin, they expected it to go viral. But they most definitely did not expect it to be fake. After it created a lot of furore on social media, the publication was forced to issue an update to their viral story about the Oklahoma hospitals. The story got the "update" after the doctor they cited — Dr. Jason McElyea — was contradicted by the hospitals he referenced.

On Friday, the publication had shared Dr McElyea's bytes. He had told a local news station that hospitals were being overrun from patients overdosing on ivermectin which resulted in other patients waiting for treatment. The medical professional had, in fact, claimed that the situation was so bad that gunshot victims were being neglected. "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 had.

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The story, which originally appeared in Oklahoma's KFOR-TV news, went viral in no time. Reporters including MSNBC anchor Rachel Maddow also shared, "'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," the tweet read. 

Fellow MSNBC left-wing anchor Joy Reid also shared the story, repeating McElyea's claims. "An emergency in one rural Oklahoma town is being overwhelmed by people overdosing on ivermectin, the horse deworming medication. It's gotten so bad that gunshot victims, gunshot victims are having to wait to be treated," she said.

Who is Dr Jason McElyea?

According to US News, Dr Jason A Mcelyea is a family medicine doctor in Sallisaw, Oklahoma and is affiliated with multiple hospitals in the area, including Integris Grove Hospital and Northeastern Health System Sequoyah. The page mentions that the doctor received his medical degree from Oklahoma State University College of Osteopathic Medicine and has been in practice between 6-10 years.

The Northeastern Hospital System, which McElyea works for, issued a statement regarding his association with the hospitals reported in the story. The NHS revealed while McElyea "is affiliated" with a medial staffing group, he has not worked at the location in question for 2 months nor has he treated any ivermectin overdoses. "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," the statement reads.

The story was also shared by publications like New York Daily News, Newsweek, The Guardian, and Insider. The Rolling Stone later published an "update" to the top of the story which repeats NHS' statement. Critics slammed the magazine for publishing what appears to be a false story.

Criticism online

Independent journalist Glenn Greenwald tweeted "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." Adding, he said, "That's the same reason the hard-core Dem Party media loyalists, led as usual by @Maddow, spread this fake story all over based on what appears to be a fraudulent source without checking. Fake News is 100% acceptable if done with good political motives:"

"Turns out Dr. Jason McElyea just made up that story and a bunch of papers published it without checking," one user wrote. Another user wrote, "It would seem that Dr. Jason McElyea is a liar." Another noted, "Holy shift even the photo was fake"