Widows suing Inland Empire hospitals for COVID-19 treatments involving Remdesivir

Two widows in the Inland Empire are suing Kaiser Permanente and Redlands Community Hospital for using Remdesivir to treat their husbands' COVID-19 diagnoses.

"I am a widow and I am 52," said widow Christina Briones. "My kids don't have their dad anymore."

It's painful to revisit, but Christina Briones said her 50-year-old husband's death just doesn't add up. She said her husband, Rodney caught COVID-19 on Aug.1, 2021. Ten days later, Briones took him to Kaiser Permanente where she said he was sent home with oxygen and the antibiotic Z-pack.

"His breathing went down to the 70s so then the ambulance came at midnight," she said. "That was the last time he was here, Aug. 12. He died Sept. 12, a month later."

The widow said since her husband was healthy and at a low risk of dying from COVID-19, she pulled his medical records a few months after he died, looking for answers. 

"The day he was admitted on Aug. 12 they started the Remdesivir and on [Aug. 17] is when they were done," she said. "Five doses. One the 17th his kidney's started to fail."

One of the side effects of the anti-viral drug is kidney failure. 

Briones said doctors did not inform the couple about the dangerous side effects. She also added that they were not told Remdesivir was administered, something they never would have consented to.

"They just kept saying 'He's on the road to recovery,'" Briones said. "'He will be home soon we just have to get his lungs cleared.'"

Widow Evangeline Ortega said a similar situation happened to her 65-year-old husband Armando. Ortega said her husband died from kidney and organ failure after doctors at Redlands Community Hospital gave him Remdesivir. She also claimed that doctors never discussed the treatment with her or her husband. 

"When we got the death certificate it says due to COVID-19 but everyone has questioned 'Why did he die? He was a healthy person.'"

Both women are suing Kaiser Permanente and Redlands Community Hospital for fraud after prescribing the drug to their husbands without their knowledge or consent. 

"Treatments for COVID-19 continue to rapidly evolve, and we prescribe care that is intended to provide the best clinical outcomes based on current knowledge and their individual needs," a Kaiser Permanente spokesperson said in a statement.

Both women hope to stop another family from going through what they are going through. 

"They can't just experiment on our loved ones without telling us," said Ortega.

"I really wish that they would stop using Remdesivir," said Briones. "I really wish they would stop."

Redlands Community Hospital did not reply to requests for comments.