Santa Monica Hospital Sued for Wrongful Death After Husband’s Remdesivir Treatment Fails
By Juliette Fairley
July 28, 2022 Updated: July 28, 2022
Photo by Dimitri Karastelev on Unsplash
It wasn’t until after Victor Javier had died that his wife learned he had been treated with the drug Remdesivir.
“It was a complete surprise,” said Maricela Javier. “I didn’t know what Remdesivir was.”
The couple had gone to Providence Saint John’s Health hospital for help with Victor Javier’s persistent hiccups.
Instead, the 54-year-old was allegedly improperly diagnosed with COVID-19, treated with Remdesivir and Dexamethasone without consent, and never came home.
“People should be very careful when they go to the hospital because doctors might make life and death decisions behind your back,” Maricela Javier told The Epoch Times.
“Hospitals are not letting patients make their own decisions like they should.”
The grieving widow sued the Santa Monica hospital on July 20 in Los Angeles Superior Court alleging three wrongful death causes of action including constructive fraud and medical negligence.
“The facts in the case are heartbreaking, but they are not surprising to us,” said attorney Matthew Tyson who is representing Maricela Javier.
“We are helping many families bring claims for the loss of their loved ones after Remdesivir and other high-risk drugs were given without knowledge or consent.
“They all involve outrageous conduct and terrible suffering.”
The complaint alleges that Dexamethasone not only worsened Javier’s hiccups and diabetes but also contributed to his blindness, leg amputations, and eventual death.
Dexamethasone is a corticosteroid that has not yet been approved by the FDA for COVID-19 treatment.
“We hope to reaffirm the fiduciary duty of physicians to provide full and transparent disclosure of available treatment options and their risks, and the right of patients to make their own medical decision after receiving full disclosure,” said co-counsel Bryan Garrie.
Providence Saint John’s Health did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
“Victor’s risk of death dramatically changed for the worse when he was given high-risk and contraindicated drugs Remdesivir and Dexamethasone without the knowledge, or informed consent, of Victor or Maricela,” the complaint states.
“Victor Javier did not receive a diagnosis or treatment for his hiccups and instead was diagnosed with COVID-19.”
In 1975, the California legislature placed a limit on general damages in medical malpractice cases only, which is currently $250,000, however, there is no such cap on Javier’s claim for constructive fraud.
“We hope to establish that California healthcare providers are not immune from liability for certain types of misconduct relating to the pandemic,” Garrie told The Epoch Times.
Providence Saint John’s Health is also accused of failing to disclose the availability of a safe outpatient multi-drug early treatment for COVID-19.
“Remdesivir is an intravenous infusion given over five days but what they fail to tell people is that it causes acute kidney failure and it also can cause liver failure,” said Dr Bryan Tyson, an El Centro physician who advocates for the use of Ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine to treat COVID-19.
Although Ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine are currently in use in California, they became politicized treatments for COVID-19 under former president Donald Trump’s administration.
“Hydroxychloroquine and Ivermectin have been completely dismissed and they are completely safe drugs,” Tyson said.
“These two drugs have been around a lot longer than Remdesivir and when given in proper dosing, they are effective.”
Hospitals like Providence Saint John’s Health are allegedly using Remdesivir because, according to Tyson, the treatments are valued at $3,000 to $6,000.
“Remdesivir is one of these failed antivirals that the National Institutes of Health has been trying to use for Ebola and so here’s a way to ‘make our money back. Let’s use it and see if it works for coronavirus,’” he said.
“It really didn’t work for coronavirus and just caused problems.”
Juliette Fairley
Juliette Fairley
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Juliette Fairley is a graduate of Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism. Born in Chateauroux, France, and raised outside of Lackland Air Force Base in Texas, Juliette is a well-adjusted military brat who now lives in Manhattan. She has written for The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, TheStreet, Time magazine, Newsmax and many other publications across the country. When she is not reporting and writing for the Epoch Times, she works as an actress in television and feature film.
