Oklahoma hospitals deluged by ivermectin overdoses

An Oklahoma doctor recently said that overdoses of the anti-parasitic drug ivermectin, which many believe without evidence can prevent or cure COVID-19, are helping cause delays and problems for rural hospitals and ambulance services.

The drug is used to kill internal and external parasites in livestock animals and, in smaller doses, in humans.

Dr Jason McElyea told KFOR, an Oklahoma TV station, "There’s a reason you have to have a doctor to get a prescription for this stuff, because it can be dangerous".

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He added, "The [emergency rooms] are so backed up that gunshot victims were having hard times getting to facilities where they can get definitive care and be treated.

“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. If there’s no ambulance to take the call, there’s no ambulance to come to the call.”

Oklahoma, currently, is struggling to cope with a surge in hospitalisations and deaths caused by the Delta virus variant.

As per reports by the Johns Hopkins University, in the past week Oklahoma has recorded more than 18,400 cases and 189 deaths.

The same source puts the death toll in Oklahoma over 8,000, out of more than 647,000 across the US.