OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
Many conservatives believe that the rules on some social media sites vary depending on one’s political affiliation, and with Twitter’s recent inaction on MSNBC host Rachel Maddow those fears are not going to be assuaged.
Maddow shared a story that contained false information about Oklahoma hospitals being overrun with patients overdosing on Ivermectin, a drug available to both humans and animals, Fox News reported.
"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
“’Patients overdosing on ivermectin backing up rural Oklahoma hospitals, ambulances,’” Maddow said in her tweet, quoting the story. ”
“’The scariest one I’ve heard of and seen is people coming in with vision loss,’ he said,’” she tweeted.
The story, which was originally reported at Oklahoma’s KFOR-TV news, quoted testimony from Dr. Jason McElyea claiming that hospitals in a rural part of Oklahoma were being overrun with patients overdosing on the drug, causing gunshot victims to have to wait to be treated.
It was later deemed false after the Northeastern Hospital System denied any patients were treated for overdoses from the drug and that McElyea hadn’t actually worked at one of the hospitals in question for two months.
“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 to KFOR.
The hospital issued a statement after the story was shared by Maddow.
“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 two 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,” it said.
“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,” it said.
Maddow was excoriated for her disinformation tweet that she has refused to delete, though she did later add this tweet to the thread.
“Two OK hospitals have chimed in on this now — one saying they’ve had ivermectin patients in their ER ‘adding to the congestion’ caused by COVID, another saying they haven’t,” she said.
Two OK hospitals have chimed in on this now — one saying they've had ivermectin patients in their ER "adding to the congestion" caused by COVID, another saying they haven't:https://t.co/zY4iel9CDY
The latest FDA warning on misusing ivermectin for COVID:https://t.co/kzJOSQugAl
— Rachel Maddow MSNBC (@maddow) September 7, 2021
“It isn’t merely that @Maddow refuses to remove the fabricated story she made go viral. Her disinformation could be quite dangerous: someone needing urgent care could have read her false claim that ERs in their area were overrun with ivermectin patients and unable to see patients,” journalist Glenn Greenwald said.
It isn't merely that @Maddow refuses to remove the fabricated story she made go viral. Her disinformation could be quite dangerous: someone needing urgent care could have read her false claim that ERs in their area were overrun with ivermectin patients and unable to see patients: https://t.co/RJ4hNGsJ0Q
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) September 6, 2021
“Why is this viral @Maddow tweet spreading a totally false story still up? Why doesn’t it have a ‘DISINFORMATION’ label appended to it by @TwitterSafety? Why hasn’t Maddow herself removed it? Why hasn’t Twitter? Yes, these are rhetorical questions,” Greenwald said.
Why is this viral @Maddow tweet spreading a totally false story still up? Why doesn't it have a "DISINFORMATION" label appended to it by @TwitterSafety? Why hasn't Maddow herself removed it? Why hasn't Twitter?
Yes, these are rhetorical questions. https://t.co/xpRtlqvfBr
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) September 5, 2021
“Why haven’t you issued a retraction Rachel? It’s one thing to make a mistake, it’s quite another to purposefully keep a lie alive,” Republicans Texas Rep. Dan Crenshaw said.
Why haven’t you issued a retraction Rachel? It’s one thing to make a mistake, it’s quite another to purposefully keep a lie alive.
— Dan Crenshaw (@DanCrenshawTX) September 6, 2021
“I’m a huge Maddie fan but you need to take this down and let issue a retraction. You’re undermining your credibility here. The story on RS has been update with what’s essentially a retraction. @MSNBC this is irresponsible,” Joanna Schroeder a feminist writer, editor, media critic, said.
I'm a huge Maddie fan but you need to take this down and let issue a retraction. You're undermining your credibility here. The story on RS has been update with what's essentially a retraction. @MSNBC this is irresponsible.
— joanna schroeder (@iproposethis) September 5, 2021
“Disinformation… and you havent retracted it yet. And @TwitterSupport or @jack havent suspended you for this lie. Funny how the left never get punished for their lies…” Washington Times columnist Tim Young said.
As of this writing, Maddow’s tweet is still active.
