Leave it to the Left to uncritically accept an obviously dubious story without taking even the most rudimentary step to verify it.
Over the weekend, numerous Leftists with blue checkmarks on Twitter shared a story originally “reported” by Oklahoma news outlet KFOR, which breathlessly published the claims of a single doctor who claimed the state’s emergency rooms were being overrun with patients who had overdosed on the veterinary version of Ivermectin, forcing gunshot victims to wait. KFOR apparently didn’t reach out any hospitals to verify the doctor’s claims before publishing the story.
It was then picked up by Rolling Stone and Rachel Maddow, again without any verification. Northeastern Health System-Sequoyah, one of the hospitals mentioned in the articles, released a statement saying that the doctor who made the claims, Dr. Jason McElyea, hadn’t worked at the hospital in months and that it had no Ivermectin overdose victims. Here’s the hospital’s full statement:
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.
The story should have been viewed skeptically from the beginning, but since so many journalists and Leftists believe people in more rural parts of American aren’t as smart, they shared the story without question.
Drew Holden, a freelance writer, gathered a list of verified Leftists who shared the story – and their preferred narrative – on Twitter.
The most ironic sharing came from Brian Tyler Cohen, who hosts a podcast called “No Lie.” Business Insider and an executive producer for MSNBC also shared the story, as did the Guardian, Daily Mail, Newsweek, New York Daily News, and The Hill. Shannon Watts, head of a gun-control group, also shared the story. David Beard, a former Washington Post and Boston Globe writer also shared it. Kurt Eichenwald repeated the claims as well.
I just really don’t understand why seemingly real news outlets – like @Newsweek @NYDailyNews and @thehill – didn’t bother to even look into this story before they pushed this narrative?
Didn’t it sound odd? Wasn’t it worth investigating? Maybe a single phone call? pic.twitter.com/ONStIZL87I
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) September 5, 2021
Dr. Jason Johnson, a journalism professor, went a step further, suggesting – without evidence – that Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-OK) was somehow profiting off of Ivermectin.
@DrJasonJohnson took the conspiracy theory a step further, suggesting that Senator Inhofe was somehow profiting (?) from the situation that wasn’t actually taking place.
Dr. Johnson, I think you owe @JimInhofe an apology. pic.twitter.com/Ak6jYZvegk
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) September 5, 2021
Holden also noted that many people who repeatedly push false information – but who remain on Twitter despite the company’s supposed fight against misinformation – shared the fake story, including Eric Feigl-Ding, Eion Higgins, and Jon Cooper.
He’s got me blocked but @joncoopertweets continues to be one of the worst, most dishonest people on this platform. pic.twitter.com/YTBw5MhigP
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) September 5, 2021
“It should go without saying, but inventing a narrative out of thin air simply because it confirms your priors is not going to help rebuild trust in the media. It would’ve taken a single phone call to shoot this story down. Why didn’t that happen?” Holden tweeted. “And the same people who purport to be concerned about misinformation and how it spreads on platforms like Twitter will surely be silent on this. Where’s the nashing of teeth from the ‘disinformation’ reporters? Where are the Twitter content warnings? Where’s the outrage?”
“You won’t hear any. Because this is the acceptable type of political lie. And none of these people or outlets will learn anything. They’ll keep doing this. Because they care more about scoring cheap dunks on their opponents than getting the truth,” Holden added.
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Source: Dailywire
