How often have ERs treated patients for horse ivermectin exposure in the last decade?

1. What the concrete studies show: a regional snapshot, not a national census

A retrospective analysis from the Oregon Poison Center captured ivermectin exposures that led to healthcare visits between 14 August 2021 and 31 January 2022 and found 13 patients treated in emergency departments and 21 hospitalized during that 24‑week window, with many exposures tied to veterinary formulations ^[4]. Those figures are precise for that dataset but represent a short, intense period during the pandemic and cannot be extrapolated to a decade‑long national total without additional, comparable data from other states and years ^[4].

2. Signals from poison centers and hospitals: clear increases, especially in 2020–2021

Multiple health systems and poison control summaries reported alarming increases in calls and emergency visits related to ivermectin as people sought or self‑administered livestock formulations for COVID‑19; Queen’s Health Systems noted "alarming increases" in poison center reports and corresponding emergency‑department/hospital visits in ranching communities, and Mount Sinai and other academic outlets documented similar local surges ^{[1] [5] [2]}. National regulators such as the FDA publicly warned Americans against using veterinary ivermectin for COVID‑19 after noting spikes in misuse and associated emergency care, underscoring that the increase was broad enough to prompt federal level guidance ^[3].

3. Case reports and clinical descriptions: what treated patients looked like

Clinical case summaries published by poison‑control affiliated outlets describe patients who ingested concentrated horse paste (one or more tubes) and later required emergency care for symptoms including gastrointestinal distress, neurologic effects, arrhythmia, and dehydration; one multi‑tube ingestion case required prolonged ventilator support and a complicated hospital course as reported in poison‑control clinical vignettes ^[6]. The Oregon series similarly described older, often male patients ingesting higher than recommended doses, with neurologic symptoms predominant and many requiring admission ^[4].

4. Why a precise, decade‑long number is unobtainable from the available reporting

The supplied sources document spikes and regional case series concentrated in 2020–2022 but do not present a consolidated national dataset or decade‑spanning surveillance tally of emergency‑department visits specifically attributed to "horse" ivermectin; poison centers collect exposure reports variably and published analyses tend to focus on pandemic‑era surges rather than a continuous 2016–2026 count, so any definitive decade total cannot be credibly produced from the provided material ^{[1] [4] [2]}. Rolling Stone reported claims of ER backup in Oklahoma but hospitals disputed the specific assertion and independent verification of that incident was not confirmed in that report, illustrating how single‑site anecdotes can be contradicted ^[3].

5. Competing narratives and hidden incentives in the reporting

Public and social‑media advocacy for ivermectin during COVID‑19 drove some people to self‑medicate with veterinary products, which in turn produced real clinical harm documented by poison centers and hospitals; at the same time, high‑profile claims that ERs were overwhelmed by ivermectin cases were sometimes amplified without independent confirmation, creating a feedback loop that served both alarmist and political narratives ^{[3] [2]}. Veterinary product labels and drug monographs make clear that horse paste is concentrated for large animals (e.g., a syringe measured to dose a 1,250 lb horse), which explains why a single tube can deliver a massive overdose if taken by a person ^{[7] [8]}.

6. Bottom line: frequent enough to register in poison‑control and hospital series — but not quantifiable nationally from these sources

Emergency departments treated measurable numbers of patients for exposures to veterinary ivermectin—documented in regional poison‑center analyses and multiple hospital/poison‑control reports especially during 2020–2022—but the provided reporting does not include a national, decade‑long tally; the most concrete published figure here is 13 ED visits and 21 hospitalizations in a six‑month Oregon series ^[4], while multiple health systems and poison centers reported significant increases that prompted FDA warnings ^{[1] [3] [2]}. A robust national decade count would require aggregated poison‑control data and ED discharge diagnoses over the full ten years, which are not present in the supplied materials.