A NEWCASTLE emergency department patient gouged out his eyeballs and ate them.

That's the shocking allegation Dobell MP Karen McNamara used to open a Friday summit on the impacts of methamphetamine, also known as ice.

Ms McNamara, who took the Central Coast seat from Craig Thomson in 2013, shared a news report on her official Facebook page on Friday that quoted her saying the story should be shared with the region's youth.

"There is nothing at all recreational about this drug," Ms McNamara reportedly said.

"Let me tell you a story that demonstrates this . . . about a young boy taken into an emergency department for treatment who gouged out his own eyeballs and ate them."

But the region's health authority has cast doubt over the story, indicating the only similar incident was more than a decade earlier.

A Hunter New England Health spokeswoman contacted to corroborate the incident said there were no recent records of that nature.

While an older incident was described as "similar", the spokeswoman said she was unable to say if methamphetamine was involved.

"Based on the information to hand, we have not been able to find a recent record of this incident," the spokeswoman said.

"There was a similar incident in the hospital's emergency department more than a decade ago, however in the interest of [the patient's] privacy, we are unable to provide any further information or confirm a link to the drug crystal methamphetamine without the patient's consent."

A spokesman for Ms McNamara confirmed the story was told "directly to our office by a front line emergency services officer who heard it from her colleagues who had witnessed the event at a Newcastle hospital".

"This is all the information I am able to provide," the spokesman said.

Newcastle Herald