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A COVID-19 patient at the center of a QAnon campaign to have her treated with ivermectin has died

Sep 14, 2021, 01:28 IST
Insider
A woman died after demanding her COVID-19 be treated with ivermectin. Mike Stewart/AP
  • Veronica Wolski, a popular QAnon supporter, died after spending weeks in the hospital sick with COVID-19, the Chicago Tribune reported.
  • Wolski had demanded she be treated with ivermectin, which the CDC hasn't been approved for COVID-19 treatment.
  • Conspiracy theorist Lin Wood and other QAnon adherents harassed the hospital .
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A woman who was sick with COVID-19 has died after she became the center of a QAnon campaign demanding she be treated with the deworming drug ivermectin.

A spokesperson for Chicago's AMITA Health Resurrection Medical Center said that Veronica Wolski, 64, had died, the Chicago Tribune reported, adding that the local medical examiner did not give a cause of death.

The hospital did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

Wolski's husband, Lawrence, told NBC5 last week that Veronica was hospitalized with COVID-19 and had requested she be treated with ivermectin, an antiparasitic drug largely used in livestock.

QAnon supporters and conspiracy theorists have been using the drug as an off-label COVID-19 treatment, but the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration warned people not to use ivermectin after an uptick in poisonings from the drug.

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Conspiracy theorist Lin Wood encouraged QAnon followers to call the hospital where Wolski was treated and demand she receive ivermectin as treatment.

Some supporters tried to enter the hospital in an attempt to force her to be discharged, the Tribune reported.

AMITA Health told NBC5 that they received "hundreds of phone calls and emails associated with one patient's care." The hospital added that they were not giving patients ivermectin.

On Sunday, a video posted to Wood's social media showed him on the phone with the hospital demanding that Wolski be released, claiming it was at the request of the "individual with her medical power of attorney."

"There's an ambulance waiting for her outside. There's a medical doctor waiting for her to treat her. If you do not release her, you're going to be guilty of murder. Do you understand what murder is?" Wood said in the video.

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Later, Wood reported the news of Wolski's death on Telegram, according to Newsweek.

Prior to her support for QAnon, Wolski was an outspoken fan of Bernie Sanders in the 2016 presidential election, the Tribune reported.

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