Advocates of conspiracy group QAnon coordinated demands for physicians at Amita Resurrection Medical Center in Chicago to administer ivermectin to a follower of the online movement hospitalized with COVID-19, the Chicago Sun-Times reports.
Beginning Sept. 6, QAnon supporters contacted the hospital with hundreds of phone calls and emails demanding that a follower of the group hospitalized with COVID-19 receive ivermectin. Six to eight people arrived at the medical center Sept. 6, but a demonstration did not materialize, Olga Solares, spokesperson for Amita Health, told Becker's.
The FDA has not authorized or approved ivermectin for use in preventing or treating COVID-19 in humans or animals, and Amita Resurrection is not using the antiparasitic drug for treatment of the virus.
Ms. Solares said hospital staff "handled the influx of communication in a professional manner." She shared the following statement with Becker's:
"At Amita Health our first priority is the health and safety of our patients. Our physicians and clinicians follow the full guidance of the FDA and the CDC in the treatment of COVID-19. And while Amita Health Resurrection Medical Center received numerous phone calls and emails (well into the hundreds) associated with this patient's care, we have simply and respectfully noted the concerns shared."
The Chicago Sun-Times reports that a flyer for the demonstration circulated on the messaging app Telegram said the patient had been hospitalized at Amita Resurrection for two weeks with "COVID pneumonia." The flyer said a physician who initially agreed to administer ivermectin later reversed the decision because Amita Resurrection sided with public health experts.