Scottish COVID-19 inquiry|Impact hearing|Health and social care|24 November 2023 (morning session) Pt2

The second witness to testify during this harrowing session is Pamela Thomas also from the Scottish COVID Bereaved Group.

Introduction

Pamela sadly lost her brother James, a father of two, aged just 41, on October 5, 2021 in Ninewells hospital Dundee with the sole cause of death noted as COVID-19. Likely the only non elderly patient recorded as a COVID only death in 3 years ! You can view the poor reporting of this testimony in the Herald article in the links below. Much of the following evidence omitted.

Hospitilisation

In Sept 2021 the family were becoming unwell (suspected COVID) and it was around this time James fell ill, his only symptoms being diarrohea. He subsequently attended hospital where he tested positive for COVID. Pamela was under the impression James would then be treated for dehydration and perhaps placed on a drip but instead found the hospital insisted James be placed on a ventilator. Ms Thomas obtained James’ medical records after his death and was shocked to discover many additional details surrounding his health whilst hospitilised. She explains here being let down by the medics.

‘’The doctors were lying to me on a daily basis..nurses were lying to me on a daily basis..everything that was in my brothers notes was different to what i was being told on a daily basis'’ 

No visiting/ventilator

The family were not allowed to see James whilst in hospital. Communication was through mobile phone messaging services only. Ms Thomas later discovered from his medical notes James was given lorazepam the night be was placed on a ventilator despite prior informing the family he was able to eat and drink on his own accord.

‘‘Have you given my brother anything to make him tired….a discussion with one of the nurses got a bit heated…she got quite angry with me.’’

Ventilator associated pneumonia

Pamela found out in James’s notes after his death whilst he was placed on ventilation he developed ventilator associated pneumonia. He was also suffering from several other serious infections acquired in hospital including the superbug MRSA. Pamela was also at a loss to explain why James was being refused supplemental oxygen as this was a treatment she had heard about being used on other COVID patients.

’’I couldn't understand why the ventilator was being pushed on my brother...why is there such a hurry to put him on a ventilator?’’

‘‘Nobody told me about the ventilator associated pneumonia i only found that out later in his notes.’’

Issues with ventilators

Advisory.com- Nearly 90% of Covid-19 patients placed on ventilators at a New York health system died, according to a study published Wednesday in JAMA, and a separate analysis published this week argues that some Covid-19 patients shouldn't be placed on ventilators at all.

Dr.Ashely Croft at the Scottish COVID-19 inquiry

Ventilation protocols as a source of morbidity.

Deleted medical results

Within Ms. Thomas’ statement she further explains: on pages 54-55

‘‘You were also told that the medical staff were going to do a BAL procedure, which I think is to obtain material from the lungs, a sample from the lungs.’’

-Stuart Gayle KC

NB: Bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) is a minimally invasive medical procedure characterized by the infusion of sterile normal saline into a specific subsegment of the lung. Subsequently, suction is applied to retrieve and analyze the instilled fluid.

‘‘So that was the weekend that things changed. The weekend just before my brother died that procedure was carried out, and that was done−we were never told the results of that. The results of that were deleted from his medical records.’’

-Pamela Thomas

Anti-biotics/MRSA

James was also administered anti-biotics for the first time in his life and it was suspected by Pamela he may have suffered an allergic reaction due his face becoming very swollen. This reaction was never adequately explained by medics to the family.

”Has he took an allergic reaction to these antibiotics that he’s just been started on?’’

-Page 58 of statement

‘‘And I think one of the infections that your brother had had was MRSA, which had caused damage to his face.’’

- Stuart Gayle KC

‘‘Yes, well the hospital referred to it as ”a small ulcer on his lip ”, but I ’d taken photographs of my brother andit was far from a small ulcer . That was one of the infections . He also had a number of other ones, stenotrophomonas, haemophilus influenzae, candidas, all different kind of things.’’

-Pamela Thomas

Cardiac Arrest

The family were later informed James had tragically suffered a cardiac arrest prior to his death.

No consent drug trial-Forged signature

After James’ passing Pamela further discovered more disturbing details that her brother had been signed up to a medical trial to treat COVID using experimental drugs without any concent from himself or the family.

‘‘My brother was put on the trial and i found through his notes the signature wasn’t his…it was the study investigators.’’

‘‘Could anything have happened to him by giving him these drugs?’’

Pamela wanted a private post mortem as she was not convinced COVID killed her brother but this was denied.

‘‘Why were you wanting a private post mortem?’’

-Stuart Gayle KC - Page 65 of statement

‘‘Because I wanted to find out if anything else had caused my brother’s death because initially I thought he’d taken some kind of reaction. This was before I found out about any infections he’d had. I thought did he take a reaction to that medication, that antibiotics that they started him on.’’

-Pamela Thomas - Page 65 of statement

Funeral directors dispute COVID-19 as cause of death

The funeral directors remarkably contacted the family to raise concerns about the condition of James’ body given the only cause of death was noted as COVID-19. They did not agree with this. However due to changes in procedure because of the pandemic the avenue for this concern to be raised further was unavailable.

”If you still had the forms, if they still existed today −because they did away with them, they stopped doing them −I said:

”Would you have ticked that box to say you have a concern with the cause of death on my brother’s death certificate ?”, and he says to me, ”Yes”.

Immunosuppressive drugs

Another revelation was that James was placed on a powerful immuno-suppressive drug prior to his death.

‘‘One thing that you do make a note of there is you also found out that he’d been prescribed an immuneuppression drug’’

− Stuart Gayle KC

‘‘Yes’’. - Pamela Thomas

‘‘Which may have made him more susceptible to those is that right?’’

− Stuart Gayle KC

‘‘Yes, so that’s the tocilizumab. He was given that, andwhat that does is suppresses your immune system. Now, he was already vulnerable and in a hospital , he didn’t have these infections when he went in and then he ended up with all of these.’’

Vaccination side effects

It was also made known at the inquiry James was unvaccinated against COVID-19 due to the family witnessing side effects from the injection in a relative which required penicillin to be administered. James was allergic to penicillin. Sadly their father in law died suddenly January 2022.

Concluding remarks

‘‘The NHS and the Crown Office should be more transparent.’’

‘‘When the Crown Office said there would be no further investigation into my brothers death they gave no explanation and that can’t be right.’’

‘They won’t even give us information as to what the pathologist reports obtain..they won’t tell us anything.’’

‘‘Somebody else can read it (how my brother died) our family can’t.’’

”I want to know where Covid came from. I also want to know what the government are doing to make sure that this never happens again. Nobody should ever have to go through this again what my family have endured.’’

As can be seen there was a rare report in the print press in Scotland on Pamela’s testimony.

End

Links:

Full Statement Pamela Thomas- https://www.covid19inquiry.scot/sites/default/files/2023-12/Day-16-Health-Social-Care-Impacts-Hearing-FINAL-TRANSCRIPT.pdf

Full video-You Tube-Scottish COVID-19 inquiry-Impact hearing | Health and social care | 24 November 2023 (morning session)

https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/hospital_mortality_data_2026/response/2493662/attach/3/NHS%20Tayside%20IGTFOISA23482.pdf?cookie_passthrough=1

https://www.remapcap.org/coronavirus

https://www.advisory.com/daily-briefing/2020/04/24/ventilator-study

https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/23947015.covid-inquiry-ambulance-drove-off-man-chest-pain/?ref=rss

https://www.magzter.com/stories/newspaper/Daily-Record/CORONA-VICTIM-DEMANDS-PROBE-DOCS-SAID-JAMES-DIED-OF-COVID-I-FEAR-IT-WAS-DEATHS-SCANDAL-MEDS