Why You Need an Advocate (if you are diagnosed and hospitalized with Covid)

Written By Isabelle W

There are billions of dollars in federal COVID relief funds flowing into hospitals in exchange for strict compliance to requirements and protocols dictated by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). This is true not only in Tennessee (read below), but in hospitals across the country. An elderly woman was recently admitted to Columbia Memorial Hospital in Hudson, NY and diagnosed with Covid pneumonia. Despite clearly stating to the staff that she did not want to receive Remdesivir, an order was written for it, and she was given two doses of it before her family became aware of it. The family contacted their mother’s nurse on the floor, and were promptly reassured that the woman’s wishes would be honored and that no more Remdesivir would be given to her. The woman was discharged to home the next day.

One wonders about the financial incentives for hospitals to offer certain protocols.

To learn more, read on about the Adam Group… or listen to the recent interview with AJ Depriest and Del Bigtree- Covid-19- Following the Money. https://thehighwire.com/videos/covid-19-following-the-money/

https://theadamgroup.net/why-you-need-an-advocate-1

Evidence: The money behind COVID protocols in Tennessee hospitals

The hospital has historically been the place we knew we could count on to act in the best interest of patients. If we were sick and needed urgent care, the hospital was our trusted partner to help us get better. 

Sadly, those days are gone. Billions of dollars in COVID relief funds are pouring into Tennessee hospitals through the CARES Act. The CDC publishes Provider Relief Fund COVID-19 High-Impact Payments here. This money has conditions that must be met to receive it, and these conditions are killing COVID patients and destroying families across Tennessee. 

We know hospitals are getting marching orders from the American Hospital Association (AHA) and our state health department. Here is a special bulletin from AHA regarding these funds. This special bulletin from AHA describes eligibility and distribution of funds.  

Here is what we know: 

  • Our Governor, Bill Lee, and the Financial Stimulus Accountability Group (FSAG) released recommendations in early October 2021 for additional investment of federal relief dollars ($3 billion), so there is currently no end to the medical murder for money scheme. (Source: SpartaLive.com)

We cannot say every Tennessee hospital chooses money over ethics. There may be some hospitals refusing this money and faithfully adhering to the Hippocratic Oath to do no harm. But Adam Group advocates' experiences with more than a dozen Tennessee hospitals indicate an unprecedented pattern of patient abuse and violation of rights against patients and their families, including medical kidnapping, disregard for powers of attorney and conservatorships, poor patient care, deceptive practices, and potentially criminal behavior.

There are billions of dollars in federal COVID relief funds flowing into hospitals in exchange for strict compliance to requirements and protocols dictated by the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Evidence: Connecting COVID relief money to COVID patient care

In exchange for receiving billions of dollars in COVID relief funds, Tennessee hospitals have a clear directive for treating COVID patients. Tennessee hospitals must follow COVID treatment protocols declared in the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Treatment Guidelines: "The COVID-19 Treatment Guidelines have been developed to provide clinicians with guidance on how to care for patients with COVID-19."

The Guidelines claim (page 21) that remdesivir (marketed as Veklury), an antiviral agent, is the only FDA-approved drug for the treatment of COVID-19 (for emergency use), and the document provides all instructions for administering remdesivir to hospitalized COVID patients. 

Here is what we know: 

Remdesivir was stopped after kidney failures occurred in COVID drug trials and it previously failed in trials against Ebola. (Source: Medical Buyer)

  • In clinical trials and case series, adverse effects such as acute kidney injury (AKI) and renal replacement have been linked to the use of remdesivir. Kidney injuries, including proximal tubular epithelial cell necrosis, have also been observed in animal studies during the drug’s development. (Source: Planet Today News, A Final Warning)

  • The World Health Organization (WHO) recommended against the use of remdesivir in COVID patients. (Source: WHO, NBC News, Forbes)

  • Remdesivir costs in the range of $2,600 to $3,500 for a five- to ten-day course. (Source: ABC News, NPR)

  • Approval of remdesivir for the exclusive treatment of COVID raises red flags. Gilead Sciences’ remdesivir was cleared by the FDA for the treatment of COVID-19. The FDA authorization occurred two days after Gilead revealed it was aware of “positive data” from a clinical trial of remdesivir by the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID). The NIAID and the trial are both led by Anthony Fauci.

Only a handful of physicians and other healthcare professionals are brave enough to speak out against the use of remdesivir on COVID patients for fear of losing their licenses and being tried and hung in the court of public opinion. Dr. Bryan Ardis is not afraid to share information about remdesivir. In this video, Dr. Ardis explains how hospital protocols are murdering Americans by prescribing remdesivir, which causes renal failure.  

We also know: 

  • The Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness (PREP) Act provides immunity from liability (except for willful misconduct) for claims of loss caused by, arising out of, relating to, or resulting from administration or use of countermeasures to diseases, threats, and conditions; and to entities and individuals involved in development, manufacture, testing, distribution, administration, and use of such countermeasures.

******Pay close attention to the wording here ... (Source: Congressional Research Service; 23 Sep 2021.)

Scope of Immunity from Liability

1. The PREP Act defines a covered person to include (i) the United States; (ii) manufacturers and distributors of covered countermeasures; (iii) “program planners”; and (iv) “qualified persons” who prescribe, administer, or dispense covered countermeasures.

2. PREP Act immunity reaches “all claims for loss” under federal and state law. Loss is broadly defined to mean “any type of loss,” including (i) death; (ii) physical, mental, or emotional injury, illness, disability, or condition; (iii) fear of such injury, including medical monitoring costs; and (iv) loss of or damage to property, including business interruption loss.

3. The loss must have a causal relationship to the administration and use of a covered countermeasure.

4. The medical product at issue must be a covered countermeasure. The PREP Act specifies four types of covered countermeasures: (i) a qualified “pandemic or epidemic product”; (ii) a “security countermeasure”; (iii) a drug, biological product, or device that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has authorized for emergency use; and (iv) a “respiratory protective device” that is approved by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH).

A pandemic or epidemic product includes any drug, biological product, or device developed “to diagnose, mitigate, prevent, treat, or cure a pandemic or epidemic” or used “to limit the harm such pandemic or epidemic might otherwise cause.” In addition, drugs, biological products, or devices used to treat the side effects of a pandemic or epidemic product, or to enhance their effects, may themselves be covered countermeasures. In either case, to be a covered countermeasure, the pandemic or epidemic product must be approved, licensed, or authorized for emergency use by FDA.

Security countermeasure refers to a drug, biological product, or device used “to diagnose, mitigate, prevent, or treat harm from any biological, chemical, radiological, or nuclear agent” identified by the Secretary of Homeland Security as a material threat to national security.

The emergency use category of covered countermeasures includes drugs, biological products, and devices that FDA has authorized for use outside its ordinary regulatory processes via an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA). FDA has made wide use of its emergency authorities in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, issuing EUAs for certain in vitro diagnostic products (i.e., tests for COVID-19), antibody tests, personal protective equipment (e.g., respirators and face shields), ventilators, therapeutic drugs, and vaccines.

Section 6005 of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act and Section 3103 of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) amended the PREP Act to add a fourth covered countermeasure category for certain respiratory protective devices (such as N95 respirators). To be covered by the PREP Act, the respiratory protective device must be (i) approved by NIOSH under 42 C.F.R. Part 84; and (ii) determined by the Secretary to be a priority for use during a public health emergency. FDA issued an EUA on March 2, 2020, for the use of NIOSH-approved filtering respirators intended for general use to protect health care personnel against COVID-19.


The “Willful Misconduct” Exception

If a claim is within the PREP Act’s scope, a covered person is generally immune from legal liability. The “sole exception” to immunity is when a covered person proximately causes death or serious physical injury to another person through willful misconduct. A serious physical injury must be life threatening, permanently impair a body function, permanently damage a body structure, or require medical intervention to avoid such permanent impairment or damage. Willful misconduct requires that the covered person acted (i) intentionally to achieve a wrongful purpose; (ii) knowingly without legal or factual justification; and (iii) in disregard of a known or obvious risk that is so great as to make it highly probable that the harm will outweigh the benefit.

In other words, remdesivir (Veklury) is the ONLY drug FDA approved under an EUA for the treatment of COVID-19. Use of remdesivir and ventilators are covered countermeasures under the PREP Act, which provides liability immunity to all doctors and hospitals that prescribe, administer, or dispense these two countermeasures. 

Not only are hospitals making money off COVID diagnoses of patients, but hospitals also make money off the use of ventilators and remdesivir, AND hospitals are immune from all liability if they use these covered countermeasures. 

This is why hospitals tell patients and families remdesivir and ventilators are the ONLY treatment protocols they have for COVID-19. No other "off-label" treatments, despite their effectiveness and safety, pay dividends for every patient. No other treatments offer immunity from liability in case of injury or death.    

Isabelle W
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