Sao Paulo (CNN)A Brazilian infirmary concatenation has been ordered to wage 2 cardinal BLR (USD370,500) to the household of a Covid-19 diligent aft giving him unproven attraction for the deadly microorganism without his knowledge.
The Sao Paulo tribunal sentenced the healthcare institution Prevent Senior to wage the compensation aft proceeding that diligent Carlos Alberto Reis was not cared for successful ICU and was treated with drugs of unproven efficacy against Covid-19, specified arsenic ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine.
According to justice Guilherme Santini Teodoro's decision, determination was a nonaccomplishment successful Reis' care. The tribunal heard that the 61-year-old was displaying terrible symptoms, but was kept distant from ICU astatine the Hospital Sancta Maggiore and treated with a "Covid kit" of expected therapies. He subsequently spent 2 months recovering successful different hospital.
The ruling came aft a lawyer for a radical of whistleblowing doctors alleged to the country's parliamentary enquiry connected the pandemic connected Tuesday that Prevent Senior gave unproven Covid-19 treatments to patients without their knowledge.
The company, which besides offers backstage wellness insurance, did not remark connected the Sao Paulo tribunal ruling, which tin inactive beryllium appealed. It has antecedently denied each allegations made successful the country's parliamentary inquiry.
Addressing the enquiry earlier this week, lawyer Bruna Morato claimed that astatine slightest 9 patients astatine hospitals operated by Prevent Senior died of Covid-19 portion they were unwittingly receiving the experimental treatments. Morato represents 12 anonymous doctors who worked for the wellness attraction provider.
She alleged that Prevent Senior hospitals were utilized arsenic "laboratories" for studies with alleged "Covid kit," containing drugs that person been proven ineffective for the attraction of Covid-19, specified arsenic ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine. These studies were allegedly conducted betwixt March and April of 2020.
Patients and relatives were not made alert those drugs were being administered, and Prevent Senior doctors were pressured internally to prescribe and administer specified drugs, Morato besides said. "Very susceptible aged patients were told determination was a bully treatment, but they did not cognize they were being utilized arsenic guinea pigs," she said.
These and different claims are presently being investigated by the country's Public Attorney's bureau and by the Civil Police of São Paulo.
The parliamentary committee of enquiry (CPI) is investigating the government's handling of the coronavirus pandemic. President Jair Bolsonaro has been wide criticized astatine location and overseas for playing down the severity of the virus, discouraging vaccination and disguise use, and promoting the unproven drugs.
After the alleged studies successful March and April of 2020, Prevent Senior began giving the "Covid kit" to patients arsenic a cost-cutting strategy, Morato claimed. "According to reports from the doctors, it was overmuch cheaper to marque a acceptable of medications disposable to patients than to hospitalize these patients," she said.
Asked by Sen. Renan Calheiros wherefore doctors prescribed the kits to patients contempt deficiency of grounds of their effectiveness, Morato said that noncompliant doctors faced "reprisal," "punishments" and adjacent firing. "It reached specified a regrettable constituent (...) that the physicians connected work delivered the (Covid) kit to the patients and said: "I request to springiness it to you (the kit), due to the fact that if I don't present it, I volition beryllium fired,'" Morato told the CPI.
In a connection sent to CNN, the institution denied each accusations and said it was the people of defamation.
"Prevent Senior denies the accusations and repudiates lying allegations anonymously filed with Covid's CPI and the press," it said. "The lawyer's grounds to the CPI contiguous confirms that these are unfounded accusations, which are based connected truncated oregon edited messages leaked to the property and volition beryllium dismantled passim the investigations."
Morato besides claimed that Prevent Senior had established a narration with doctors and specialists who were advising the national government, with the volition of shielding the trials from scrutiny. "Prevent Senior was assured that it would not beryllium inspected by the Ministry of Health oregon different related bodies," she said.
The Health Ministry did not respond to CNN's petition for comment.