The 71 year-old followed the doctors’ orders to the letter and took her hydroxychloroquine doses as directed. Prevent Senior sent her a “COVID” kit that contained ivermectin, as well as a number of vitamins and anti-inflammatories.
However, her condition was still grave.
Castilho was admitted to the hospital and received dialysis. She was then intubated. Castilho’s daughters were consulted by doctors about Castilho receiving flutamide, a drug commonly used to treat prostate cancer. They declined because of concerns about side effects for Castilho’s mother, who had recently been diagnosed with liver cancer.
Later, they saw a nurse administer flutamide to them. She told them that it was prescribed despite their objections.
Castilho, 33 days after her husband’s death, died in April. Her daughters scattered his ashes on Castilho’s grave.
“Do you know this passionate couple?” Katia Castilho, her daughter, said that it was them during a video conference from Joao Pessoa in northeastern Brazil. “That’s why I can’t keep quiet. This is what keeps me from being afraid. It’s a truth I wish was a lie. It’s a wound you will never heal.”
Castilho’s story is just one of many scandalous cases that Prevent Senior has faced since September. Prevent Senior operates 10 hospitals in Sao Paulo.
Through their lawyer, whistleblowing doctors testified to the Senate that Prevent Senior had enrolled participants to test unproven medications without proper consent. This forced doctors to follow the President Jair Bolsonaro’s lead and prescribe unproven drugs as part of a “COVID” kit.
Senators claim that Prevent Senior may have falsified death certificates in order to omit COVID-19 from the cause of death. Investigators are also looking into the allegations that the company did not have proper permission to conduct research.
This case highlights the resilient division in Brazil’s polarized Brazil regarding proper treatment of COVID-19 sufferers. Many in Brazil, including the president unvaccinated, are ignoring global scientific recommendations. There are also concerns that other providers may have implemented similar dodgy practices.
Pedro Batista Junior (prevent Senior’s executive Director) testified before senators two weeks ago that doctors could make their own prescriptions to treat COVID-19. He also stated that patients had freely consented to taking their COVID kits.
Prevent Senior answered more than a dozen questions by the AP. It denied any wrongdoing, irregularities in its facilities, or conducting unapproved trials. Prevent Senior stated that all patients and their families consented to receiving treatment.
