ROYAL OAK, Mich. – Royal Oak Beaumont physician Dr. Patrick Wiater is under fire after sending a personal message that overly exaggerated health conditions amid the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. That message garnered widespread attention online.

In Wiater’s private message, which has been shared across Twitter and Facebook, he claimed that the “ICU in the hospital is full of young adults on ventilators fighting for their lives.”

Wiater also claimed that Beaumont is “seeing mostly young people coming into the hospital with their lungs destroyed by this virus. The media made it sound like the biggest risk was elderly. Probably true but in Michigan it’s hitting young adults hard.”

Beaumont Health took to Twitter to address the falsely-worded message.

We would like to clarify and respond to a message that has been circulating online that you might have seen: pic.twitter.com/c9lDJiOUaC — Beaumont Health (@BeaumontHealth) March 21, 2020

Wiater later released the following statement, apologizing for his inaccurate description of the hospital’s conditions during the COVID-19 outbreak.

“I apologize for the fear and confusion created based on a private message I wrote. This private message was shared and posted online without my knowledge. Beaumont’s ICUs are not full of young people on ventilators. In reality, much of what I wrote in that text message is exaggerated and untrue. During this time of crisis, truth and accuracy are more important than ever. I sincerely apologize for sharing false information.”

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