A proponent of anti-vaccine conspiracy theories died Monday after contracting COVID-19 two weeks ago.
The Chicago hospital that was treating her has
received death threats for failing to treat her with ivermectin,
a horse deworming drug that has no proven usefulness against the coronavirus.
Followers of Veronica Wolski, who believed in QAnon's outlandish conspiracy theories and that the presidential election was fraudulent,
sent hundreds of emails and made hundreds of calls over two weeks
to AMITA Health Resurrection Medical Center to lobby on the treatment that the doctors had decided.
Now they allege that Wolski was the victim of a murder at the hands of the doctors.
COVID-19: doctor explains the risks of using ivermectin as a treatment against the virus
Feb. 1, 202101: 20
The hospital explained last week that it follows the guidance of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) not to use ivermectin to treat the coronavirus, according to The Chicago Tribune reports.
Wolski was known for documenting her demonstrations on a bridge over the John F. Kennedy Freeway in Chicago.
On YouTube, he expressed his beliefs
against the coronavirus vaccine and the use of masks.
"Not once have I used a mask.
I have called the police to report people who have tried to force me to wear masks," Wolski said in one of his videos.
["You are not a horse. You are not a cow": what is ivermectin and why is it not recommended against COVID-19]
Lawyer Lin Wood, one of QAnon's most influential supporters, posted a video Sunday night
asking his 814,000 followers
on Telegram to call the hospital to demand that Wolski be discharged.
"There is an ambulance waiting for her outside, there is a doctor waiting to treat her," Wood said in the video.
"If they don't release her they will be guilty of murder. Do you understand what murder is?"
That night,
the police were called to the hospital after receiving reports of a disturbance.
In a video posted online, a woman who, according to Wood, had been empowered by Wolski, is seen confronting a police officer and demanding that he allow her to enter the hospital and perform a "wellness check" on Wolski.
AMITA Health Resurrection Medical Center hospital in Chicago.
Screenshot Google Maps
Health authorities have recorded
an
unprecedented
wave of ivermectin prescriptions
- 88,000 prescriptions per week in August according to the CDC.
A considerable jump from the 3,600 that were requested per week before the pandemic.
At the same time, emergency calls for poisoning with the drug were triggered.
The tablets of this drug are approved by the FDA
for humans in the treatment of some parasites
, such as intestinal worms.
It is also used in topical treatments for external parasites (lice) and to help skin conditions (rosacea).
But
"people should never take veterinary drugs
,
"
warns the FDA.
Some of Wood and Wolski's followers even planned online how to smuggle the ivermectin to the woman.
After his death, they say that he is a "martyr", "hero" and "patriot".
Wood has told his followers on social media that "it is our responsibility to ensure that these medical killings are stopped NOW and that the perpetrators are brought to justice," adding:
"Now we are going to war."
With information from
The Chicago Tribune, Vice, Newsweek, The Daily Beast.
