Dev World Bioeth. 2023 Sep;23(3):229-241. doi: 10.1111/dewb.12363. Epub 2022 Jun 28.
The Brazilian Federal Senate created a Parliamentary Inquiry Commission (CPI) to investigate the Bolsonaro government's irregularities in the management of the COVID-19 pandemic. One of the cases that drew attention was the research conducted by Prevent Senior, a private health insurance company, on the early treatment of COVID-19. The article analyzes the scientific validity of the research and the ethical problems related to its implementation. It is based on analysis of Prevent Senior's report of the clinical study, the Brazilian and USA clinical trial registries, the Senate's CPI report, and on the information reported by the media. This case of scientific fraud and political-ideological bias exemplifies how Prevent Senior, using a questionable protocol to enhance its reputation and gain government support, was instrumental in building the "early treatment" narrative for COVID-19, and shows how it served as a basis for a government public policy that promoted the use of ineffective drugs.
巴西联邦参议院成立了一个议会调查委员会（CPI），以调查博索纳罗政府在 COVID-19 大流行管理方面的不当行为。引起关注的案件之一是私人医疗保险公司 Prevent Senior 对 COVID-19 的早期治疗所进行的研究。本文分析了该研究的科学有效性和与其实施相关的伦理问题。它基于对 Prevent Senior 的临床研究报告、巴西和美国的临床试验注册中心、参议院 CPI 报告以及媒体报道的信息进行分析。这起科学欺诈和政治意识形态偏见的案例，说明了 Prevent Senior 如何利用有问题的方案来提高声誉并获得政府支持，从而为 COVID-19 的“早期治疗”叙事提供了帮助，并展示了它如何成为政府推广使用无效药物的公共政策的基础。
