The Brazilian agency that regulates health insurance plans has opened an investigation into allegations that a hospital chain tested unproven drugs on elderly Covid-19 patients without their knowledge, the regulator's director told a Senate inquiry.
It was the first instance of a regulatory agency pledging to look into claims of wrongdoing at Prevent Senior, a major healthcare chain serving tens of thousands of patients in the Sao Paulo area.
Paulo Rebello Filho, head of the National Regulatory Agency for Private Health Insurance Plans (ANS), said his staff had detected "assistance abnormalities" at Prevent Senior and the health chain will be put under special technical supervision.