PART ONE - HOSPITALS RECEIVE ADDITIONAL MONEY FROM THE U.S. GOVERNMENT WHEN COVID-POSITIVE PATIENTS ARE TREATED WITH REMDESIVIR (VEKLURY)
Patient’s Son has to Call the Police to be Able to Speak to Medical Staff Outside the Hospital Regarding His Mother
We can’t help but be upset mom went to the hospital for oxygen and expected to be released, and never came home after they gave her Remdesivir. As mom’s oldest son and Medical Power of Attorney – I had a responsibility and love for our mom – my wife’s best friend and confidant of 30 years.
Mom had been feeling nauseous for a few days, starting on Wednesday, November 10, 2021. She monitored her vitals and thought it was a short-term thing. Over the weekend she wasn’t feeling any better and Monday she wanted to get checked. We went to the nearest clinic – no walk-ins due to “COVID.” We went to her primary care physician – no walk-ins and directed us to their nearest walk-in clinic. By this time, she had a low oxygen saturation and was getting weak – we had been doing this for over an hour. A clinic staff met us outside with a wheelchair – and would not let her in without a mask; she was visibly struggling for air and strength. After a bit of a firm challenge – were they really going to turn away a person who was visibly in respiratory distress – they brought us to a room. The medical assistant asked routine questions, took vitals, and put mom on oxygen – she went from mid 60s O2 saturation to low 90s and immediately began improving. Then the doctor came in.
Initial exam was a cough and low oxygen saturation – nothing else, and she said mom was not symptomatic for COVID – and they would do a quick 15-minute PCR test as standard protocol. This is the same PCR test the CDC in June 2021 had advised be discontinued by December 31, 2021, due to the high false-positives, and the extended false-positives up to 12 weeks post-exposure to COVID. In less than five minutes the doctor came back upset – advising she was COVID positive, she had every “hidden” symptom, and we had potentially infected the entire clinic. After a brief firm reminder this was not the time for lectures, she told mom she was calling an ambulance to take her to the emergency room.
Mom didn’t want to go to the hospital – we had long had these discussions – I didn’t want her to go – and they told her if she didn’t, she would die. She asked to be sent home with oxygen or a prescription for me to pick up an O2 machine – they could not send her home with oxygen… only the hospital could. She had the right to refuse, and when the paramedics arrived, they all said she would go for oxygen and most are released home – she was no longer in any distress and would likely go home. Mom very reluctantly went. By mid-afternoon we had conversations with attending physicians and mom was greatly improved. We waited to be called to pick her up. I simply should have – I didn’t. We were able to monitor her medical chart and progress online. Her x-rays were mostly clear – no indications of COVID or pneumonia. Her labs showed elevated bacteria - 330s. The attending physician called and said they would keep her overnight for observation and she was doing well, improving.
As we continued to monitor and talk to mom, she sounded better and was ready to be home the next day. She was then taken to the COVID floor and given two initial doses of Remdesivir right away. She never signed a hospital treatment / billing consent form; instead – in the signature space someone had written “COVID” across it. Remdesivir is the only FDA-approved protocol for COVID positive treatment. As part of the Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) and then approval, there are three specific criteria in advising patients: 1) consent; 2) side effects warning, and 3) it is the only protocol and was not developed for COVID. Mom was given none of these.
As her Next-of-Kin and Medical Power of Attorney, I was called the next day and advised of the use of Remdesivir. I asked about Ivermectin and/or Hydroxychloroquine and was told there was no protocol for Ivermectin and/or Hydroxychloroquine use and none available in the hospital – only Remdesivir. Our mom died five days later – and I was repeatedly told she had to improve in five days or her chances were she would not leave the hospital. I never understood why this was repeated, until my wife researched Remdesivir the same as she had researched other protocols, including Ivermectin and/or Hydroxychloroquine.
On Tuesday we checked her blood work online and found the bacteria was down to below 30 and in the normal range. We thought for sure mom would be coming home. Mom continued to sound good and thought she would be coming home. The new attending physician said they needed to treat her for the ‘COVID’ she had tested positive for. I asked if they were going to use Ivermectin or Hydroxychloroquine – no, their protocol was Remdesivir – nothing else was explained (as we later learned is required by the FDA EUA). I had confused Remdesivir with something else and will forever regret this. My wife was concerned. It was too late – we also did not know they started the protocol at her admission the day before – two doses ($5,000).
On Wednesday her medical chart showed “COVID Pneumonia” and specifically bacterial pneumonia (COVID is viral, not bacterial; and there are both viral and bacterial pneumonia). Her x-rays also showed pneumonia and/or COVID. To this time, I had been denied going up to see her – because I would not wear a mask, and we also thought mom would be coming home.
On Thursday morning I woke up to the realization – and fear – mom would not be leaving the hospital. I had never been so upset in my life. I told my wife I was going to the hospital and either see mom or if I could bring her to our home – she said, of course, and made the room mom would stay in ready for her. On my way, the hospital family care team called – and they only call for one reason. They explained mom was declining and if she could make it through the weekend – five days – her chances of recovery were better, and they were concerned about her decline and the weekend (turns out Remdesivir has a 30% fatality rate in the first five days).
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