WASHINGTON, D.C. – On Monday, U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) held a roundtable discussion titled “COVID-19 Hospital Protocols: Real Stories from Real People” with patients, families, doctors, and nurses. The 21 panelists shared firsthand accounts of mistreatment and other experiences they witnessed at hospitals across the country. In their remarks, panelists detailed how treatments such as remdesivir and ventilation were often forced on patients as the only viable options. Patients were denied alternative treatments and drugs, even when rigid hospital protocols were failing.
“Rigid adherence to hospital protocols – rarely questioned – became the norm, which many doctors saw as violating the Hippocratic Oath’s core duty: patients first, not protocols. Far too often, the stories of COVID-19 hospitalizations were horrific … Patients lost their freedom. Family members could not visit and comfort their dying loved ones … In many of the testimonies received for this event, the callous comments by doctors and nurses to unvaccinated patients and their families are almost unbelievable,” Sen. Johnson said.
“The stories you are about to hear didn’t occur within only one or two hospitals, but in hospitals across America. To date, we [have] received 583 testimonies from 46 states. The fact that these attitudes were widespread is indisputable. Today, I am providing a platform for these stories to be told so that this kind of cruelty will not be repeated,” Sen. Johnson continued.
“The other underlying reality is these stories are real … [The] medical establishment – those doctors, those nurses – has to acknowledge the fact [that] these things are real so, once again, it can never be repeated,” Sen. Johnson concluded.
Watch the full four-hour discussion here.
PARTICIPANTS:
Peggy Hokett’s husband, Raymond, died 24 days after being hospitalized in Oklahoma City. He was given remdesivir, told he would die because he was unvaccinated, and placed on a ventilator without consent.
Dr. James P. Miller is a licensed physician and surgeon from Everett, Washington. He spoke on hospital misconduct, patient mistreatment, retaliation, and deliberate targeting of doctors who challenged COVID-era treatment practices.
Gail Seiler of Plano, Texas, was hospitalized with COVID in December 2021. Fortunately, with the help of her husband Brad, she was allowed to leave the hospital and recovered at home. She told her story from the perspective of a patient.
Brad Seiler is Gail’s husband, a registered nurse, and a former Army captain. Brad shared what he witnessed during her 15-day hospitalization, his concerns about her treatment, and his successful effort to bring her home.
Donna Lowery is a registered nurse with 39 years of clinical experience, including 31 years at a hospital in Florida. After advocating for a COVID patient to receive a physician-ordered ivermectin prescription, she was terminated and faced a complaint filed against her nursing license with the Florida Board of Nursing.
Stephanie Williamson’s husband, David, was hospitalized December 10, 2021, in Pomona, New Jersey. He was denied alternative treatments, given remdesivir without consent, and pressured into intubation. David died 30 days later.
Ralph Lorigo is a Buffalo-area attorney with more than 50 years of legal experience. During the pandemic, he represented 212 families across 40 states who were denied access to alternative treatments and drugs.
Darla Smith’s husband, Keith, was hospitalized with COVID in York, Pennsylvania, on November 19, 2021. Darla unsuccessfully fought to advocate for his treatment, and Keith died on December 12 after being placed on a ventilator.
Dr. John Littell is a family physician who cared for thousands of COVID patients in offices, homes, hospitals, and nursing homes. As chairman of family medicine at a Florida hospital, he witnessed patients and families denied treatment options, visitation, and access to dying loved ones.
Melodie McKeel is the wife of Bryan McKeel, who passed away in Sarasota, Florida. Against the wishes of his family, he was intubated and denied further access to ivermectin after showing signs of improvement.
Gail Macrae worked as a registered nurse at a hospital in Santa Rosa, California. During the pandemic, she witnessed the imposition of rigid protocols and the denial of alternative treatments and drugs.
Karen Hayles’ son, Chase, was a childhood cancer survivor with preexisting kidney damage. He was assured he would not receive remdesivir when he was hospitalized in Houston in 2021. He received it anyway, further damaging his kidneys. Chase died while awaiting a kidney transplant.
Dr. Randy Grellner is an Oklahoma state senator and family physician. Randy told the story of his longtime patient and friend, John – a 72-year-old farmer and Navy veteran who died after being hospitalized.
Katelyn Johnson is a registered nurse with 10 years of bedside clinical experience and the former director of Medical Services for Paralyzed Veterans of America. She brought firsthand insight into how COVID-19-era hospital protocols affected patient access and the nurses caring for vulnerable veterans.
Cori Peth’s father, George, died April 7, 2022, in Colorado after a three-month hospitalization. He was denied monoclonal antibodies, given remdesivir, and told he would die if he refused a ventilator. He later died on the ventilator.
Nicole Landers is a Maryland registered nurse with more than 30 years of clinical experience. During the pandemic, she provided alternative treatments when doctors only offered the standard COVID-19 hospital protocols.
Patti Joyce of Jacksonville, Florida, told the story of her brother, Earl Hendrix, who died at 62 in Whitefish, Montana.
Dr. Susan Rohr is a board-certified pulmonary and critical care physician in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. She challenged rigid treatment protocols and advocated for additional treatment options when patients were told there was nothing more that could be done.
Patty Myers is a behavior analyst whose husband, Tony, died after a 25-day COVID-19 hospitalization in 2021. During his hospitalization, Patty advocated for and was denied treatments including ivermectin, monoclonal antibodies, high-dose vitamin C, zinc, and vitamin D.
Jenna Hadley Johnsen is a registered nurse, public health nurse, and Certified Legal Nurse Consultant (CLNC) from Minnesota with more than 22 years of experience. She held the medical power of attorney for her father who died after a 24-day COVID hospitalization in January 2022.
Dr. Pierre Kory is a pulmonary and critical care physician and the Chief Scientific Officer of Rebuild Medicine. He is the former chief of the Critical Care Service at the University of Wisconsin and was a frontline doctor treating patients from the start of the pandemic.
