Moraes’ lecture in Rome was sponsored by a company condemned for “Covid kit”

Minister Alexandre de Moraes’ lecture in Rome last week, shortly before an alleged attack on him and his son at the international airport, was sponsored by a business group from Goiás that has a stake in the pharmaceutical company Vitamedic. The company was condemned by the state court for collective moral damages due to the so-called “Covid kit”, which had ivermectin, its flagship, as one of the medicines for the early treatment of Covid-19.

Despite the conviction and being the rapporteur of an inquiry opened two years ago to investigate the disclosure of alleged fake news about Covid-19, the minister accepted the invitation to speak in Italy, according to Band.

The event that Moraes participated in at the University of Siena was promoted by Unialfa College, from Goiânia, and had 31 guest speakers. The institution, owned by the José Alves Group, worked with the “Doctors for Life” movement on a manifesto in favor of the “Covid kit”.

Vitamedic and “Médicos pela Vida” were fined BRL 55 million for supporting the dissemination of the manifesto and encouraging the use of the kit. The decision at first instance is still subject to appeal.

According to the investigation, Vitamedic earned around R$ 500 million during the Covid-19 pandemic with the sale of ivermectin, against only R$ 15 million in the previous year. Former President Jair Bolsonaro (PL) defended that doctors had the autonomy to prescribe the medicine along with chloroquine for the treatment of the virus.

The company’s director was called to testify at the CPI of the Pandemic. The senators asked for the breaking of the group’s president’s telephone and fiscal secrecy, avoided by a writ of mandamus filed at the Supreme Court.