Doctors grow frustrated over COVID-19 denial, misinformation
The Associated Press asked six doctors from across the country to describe the types of misinformation and denial they see on a daily basis and how they respond to it.
They describe being aggravated at the constant requests to be prescribed the veterinary parasite drug Ivermectin, with patients lashing out at doctors when they are told that it’s not a safe coronavirus treatment. An Illinois family practice doctor has patients tell him that microchips are embedded in vaccines as part of a ploy to take over people’s DNA. A Louisiana doctor has resorted to showing patients a list of ingredients in Twinkies, reminding those who are skeptical about the makeup of vaccines that everyday products have lots of safe additives that no one really understands.
Some threaten to call attorneys if they don’t get a prescription for Ivermectin, commonly used by veterinarians to kill worms and parasites. The drug can cause harmful side effects and there’s no evidence it helps with the coronavirus. Dr. Carl Lambert received a flurry of messages from patients who were worried about damage to their testicles — a rumor he ultimately traced back to an erroneous tweet from Minaj, a Trinidadian-born rapper and singer.
Some of the misinformation is delivered from the pulpit, he said. People have sent him sermons of preachers saying the vaccine is “ungodly or there’s something in it that will mark you,” a reference to a verse in Revelation about the “mark of the beast” that some Christians cite in not getting vaccinated. “There’s a mixture of like almost fear ... and saying, “Hey, if you do this, maybe you’re not as faithful as you should be as, say, a Christian.’”
https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-pandemic-misinformation-health-433991ea434e12ccfdf97b5db415310d
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