In the United States, false news is circulating that the drug Ivermectin helps against Corona. In the state of Oklahoma, victims of this self-treatment are now supposed to block the hospitals.
Ivermectin is actually intended to kill parasites in horses, but it is also used in humans in small doses. Now, however, it's become a popular anti-Covid drug in parts of the US -- without any evidence that it even works.
Especially in the state of Oklahoma, ivermectin is popular with those opposed to vaccination. The consequences are now evident in rural areas: intensive care units are so overcrowded that even patients with gunshot wounds sometimes have to wait longer for treatment, doctor Jason McElyea told local television station KFOR.
However, a hospital in the area - which does not employ Doctor McElyea but works there from time to time in the emergency room - denied the doctor's claims: A statement from the health center said NHS Sequoyah had no patients involved treated for an ivermectin overdose - all emergency patients received "appropriate medical attention".
convulsions and vision loss
According to the doctor McElyea, the later patients take doses of the drug that are actually intended for horses - so suffer an overdose and have to go to hospitals. The consequences are sometimes worse than if you had Covid, says McElyea. Symptoms include nausea, muscle pain, vomiting, and cramps. "The scariest thing I've seen and heard is people coming in with vision loss," McElyea said.
The information that ivermectin - in contrast to vaccinations - would help against Covid is mainly spread in Facebook groups or Internet forums. According to observers, there is a large overlap between ivermectin advocates and vaccine opponents.
"You are not a horse. You are not a cow"
Even the Federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) felt compelled to react: "You're not a horse. You're not a cow. Seriously, stop it," the authority tweeted and added further explanatory texts. "There's a lot of misinformation out there right now, and you may have heard that it's okay to take a large dose of ivermectin. It's not okay," it says. The agency warns that if people take excessive amounts, they could fall into a coma or even die.
Despite the warnings, the drug is still out of stock in some parts of Oklahoma, according to the KFOR TV report.
