A group of attorneys is suing the company that marketed remdesivir as a safe and effective drug, which many hospitals administered to COVID-19 patients and whose efficacy has been called into question.
Jamie Scher is one of those attorneys, and she joined Liz Collin this week to discuss the class action lawsuit filed in California.
She is representing two individuals — although the lawsuit includes anyone who has been affected by the use or forced use of remdesivir, she said.
One plaintiff survived a 30-day coma after taking five doses of remdesivir. He flatlined after the fifth dose and was put in a coma.
“And 30 days later, he woke. He somehow was revived,” Scher said. “But is he cured? No, he has lots of problems. He cannot walk like he used to. He was in construction before, and now he can’t do anything he used to do.”
The second plaintiff is a widow with three children. She and her husband made it clear in the hospital that he did not want to be given remdesivir. But he was administered the drug anyway, Scher said.
“People in our class action have literally written on their bodies, ‘no remdesivir’ … and they were still given it. People like myself wear a bracelet every single day, which you can get on formerfedsgroup.org. And it says, I’m allergic to remdesivir,” Scher explained.
The lawsuit says Gilead Sciences marketed the drug as safe and effective without disclosing potential harmful side effects. Then Gilead Sciences continued to promote it as safe and effective even when injuries and deaths resulted from its use, according to the lawsuit.
Nicole Riggs, a woman who spoke with Liz Collin on her podcast last spring, believes remdesivir is to blame for her father’s death.
He was hospitalized at 70 years old after getting COVID, and he was treated with remdesivir despite his family’s wishes. His 16-day stay at the hospital before dying totaled $1.2 million in medical bills.
Scher believes it is her moral duty to bring this lawsuit.
“They’re starting to give it to people outpatient. And we have hearsay that there’s going to be an oral type of remdesivir that’s given almost over the counter. You can go to your pharmacy … and get it just like you get Tylenol PM. So basically, you’ll be killing yourself at home,” Scher said.
The lawsuit tries to get around the PREP Act, which protects Big Pharma in some false advertising cases.
She explained, “If you were eating a cookie or a protein bar, and it had some nuts or milk in it that you knew that you couldn’t have because you were allergic to it, it could cause you to get anaphylactic, you could sue that company because they didn’t have it written on the label, right? Okay, but in pharmacy, it doesn’t matter. They don’t have to have it written on the label.”
The lawsuit asks Gilead Sciences to cease and desist; the plaintiffs are not looking for money, Scher said.
“We want them to stop, cease and desist. … We would love to be able to give [money] to all the plaintiffs as well. But that’s not the motive. The motive is to save lives,” she said.
More than 1,100 stories are discussed in the lawsuit, Scher said.
Gilead Sciences did not respond to a request for comment on the lawsuit.
Rose Williams
Rose Williams is an assistant editor for Alpha News.
