Scandal in Brazil: chain of hospitals altered death statistics from coronavirus

Nail Brazilian hospital chain prob drugs not tested in elderly patients with Covid-19 without your knowledge, as part of an effort to validate the “miracle cure” president’s favorite Jair Bolsonaro, said Tuesday to Senate a lawyer for the complainant doctors.

At least nine people died from Covid-19 during tests in the hospital chain Prevent Senior, between March and April 2020, but medical records were altered to hide the cause of death, lawyer Bruna Morato said during a Senate investigation.

Pedro Batista, owner and executive director of the hospital chain, admitted in his testimony before the investigation into the Senate last week what patient records have been amended to remove any reference to Covid-19 after being hospitalized for two weeks, claiming they were no longer a risk of contagion.

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Denies trying drugs that have not been tested on patients without their knowledge, by arguing that people seek treatments in clinical trials and that doctors prescribe whatever prescriptions they see fit.

“It is the doctor who prescribes all medication and, at that point, everyone remembers the words (of the president Bolsonaro) and other influential people, so there were a lot of patients demanding prescriptions, ”Batista told Senators.

Morato, representing 12 doctors employed in Prevent Senior, said the company threatened and fired doctors who disagreed with a “Covid kit“predetermined which includes hydroxychloroquine, erythromycin e ivermectin. There is no scientific evidence that these drugs are beneficial in the Treatment of covid19.

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“Highly vulnerable elderly patients were told there was good treatment, but they didn’t know they were being used as guinea pigs,” Morato told senators investigating the management of the Brazil of pandemic of coronavirus.

The lawyer said doctors were told not to explain the treatment to patients or their families.

“The aim was to demonstrate that there was an effective treatment for Covid-19“said Morato, who added that the hospital wanted to help the government of Bolsonaro, which favored the drugs not tested as an effective treatment against virus to protect Brazilians from contagion if they return to work.

“It was like an exchange, they told me. Some doctors called it a pact, others described it as an alliance,” he said.

The Ministry of Health did not respond to a request for comment. It is not clear exactly what the government knew about the alleged evidence.

In a speech last week at the The United Nations, Bolsonaro again praised the “early treatment” of Covid-19 by unauthorized use of unspecified drugs, stating that science will one day justify their use against coronavirus.

The pandemic killed nearly 600,000 Brazilians in the world’s second deadliest epidemic outside of United States.