U.S. Republican Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin led a roundtable discussion about the alleged mistreatment of patients through protocols used during the pandemic on Sept. 28.
The discussion featured the testimonies of former COVID-19 patients and their families, nurses, doctors and other medical leaders. Johnson said he received 583 testimonies across 46 states detailing “cruelty” from hospitals in reference to his COVID-19 Protocols Survey.
Johnson has previously held similar discussions surrounding COVID-19 treatments, vaccines and mandates.
Much of the discussion was centered around the drugs remdesivir — a drug used in hospitals to treat COVID-19 — and ivermectin, which is used to treat parasitic infections.
Speakers shared support of “alternative” medicinal treatments to cure COVID-19 such as ivermectin, hydroxychloroquine — a drug used to treat malaria — and vitamins C and D.
Those testifying allege doctors dismissed family desires to use these “alternative” treatments in favor of remdesivir, ventilation and intubation to treat their unvaccinated family members.
Gail Seiler, a speaker who was hospitalized in 2021 for COVID-19, said she faced "aggressive pressure” and due to hospital protocol had to take remdesivir instead of “alternative” treatments.
Karen Hayles, the mother of a cancer survivor, said her son was given remdesivir despite his already impaired kidney function from chemotherapy. Current research does not suggest a link between remdesivir and kidney injury.
Many of the testimonies from families of those who died from COVID-19 detailed harassment and mistreatment from medical staff due to their family members’ unvaccinated status.
Seiler said she also faced “physical, verbal and psychological abuse” due to her unvaccinated status.
Dr. Pierre Kory, founder and former president of the Front Line COVID-19 Critical Care Alliance (FLCCC), now the Independent Medical Alliance said the World Health Organization (WHO) “convinced the world not use” ivermectin through “restricting” the studies WHO referenced in their recommendation against ivermectin as a public treatment.
FLCCC promoted ivermectin as a treatment for COVID-19, but the FDA never approved the drug for COVID-19 treatment.
Kory co-authored a study in the National Institute of Health that saw ivermectin reduce COVID-19 infections. The study was later flagged with a correction citing conflicts of interest for its authors — including those who had received payments from ivermectin manufacturer and other FLCCC members.
Johnson said the COVID-19 lockdown and shutting down the economy were not worth it.
“It wasn’t worth an experimental gene therapy,” he said. “It wasn’t worth these draconian cruel hospital protocols.”
“Leaders who used the fear of the unknown” gained power in the response to COVID-19, according to Johnson, alleging that former Chief Medical Advisor to President Joe Biden Anthony Fauci exacerbated the severity of the disease’s implications early on.
In a journal entry from Feb. 8, 2020, which was released to the public by Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, Fauci privately predicted a 0.2-0.3% fatality rate for COVID, but publicly stated a 2-3% fatality rate, according to Johnson.
Fauci did privately state a lower fatality rate privately than he did publicly in a congressional hearing a month later. But the public 2-3% rate was in the context of Chinese infections, and Fauci goes on in the testimony to estimate the fatality rate closer to 1%.
Johnson alleged that “deep state” actors, akin to Fauci, were promoting mass vaccination in wake of the pandemic. Johnson encouraged followers to investigate the actions of the government, alleging that these “deep state” actors purposefully cover their tracks to avoid indictment through the Freedom of Information Act.
“Don’t look to the federal government to solve your problems,” Johnson said.
Johnson approved of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s current handling of the FDA and his appointees at the roundtable.
He also affirmed his support for the Ready to Try Act which supports patients under certain, usually “life-threatening” conditions to try an “investigational drug” and the Right to Treat Act, introduced in 2022 — but never passed — so no federal agency can regulate medicinal practices.
Johnson said he had “Right to Try 2.0 teed up.”
Staff writer
