Hospital CEO seeks injunction against posts saying he profited from pandemic
Frontline News covered the sudden seizure of an underweight baby in, “Medical Kidnapping? Breast milk-dependent infant deteriorates in state custody," as well as his return.
The hospital that treated Baby Cyrus, St. Luke’s Health System, its CEO and a physician have filed a lawsuit against the grandfather of the baby, Diego Rodriguez, as well as Idaho gubernatorial candidate Ammon Bundy, seeking at least $50,000 in damages resulting from what they claim to be defamatory statements.
Claims of mistreatment
Most of the alleged defamation surrounds statements made by Rodriguez, during a public campaign to pressure the hospital to release his grandson, about the hospital’s treatment of the baby after he was brought to the hospital by Rodriguez’s daughter and her husband when their son began weaning but was unable to keep down anything but breastmilk. Bundy was arrested for being in the ambulance bay when he came to support the family.
Frontline News involvement
Soon after that campaign was initiated, and just after Frontline News sent a series of 20 inquiries to the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare requesting confirmation of whether Baby Cyrus was seized solely on the basis of low weight, Cyrus was returned to his parents.
The agency closed the case and he has remained with his parents since, as they continue to search for the best treatment for his cyclic vomiting syndrome.
Claims of monetary incentives in child seizures
The defamation suit further alleges that Rodriguez accused the hospital of “running a child trafficking ring subsidized by taxpayer dollars.” In its inquiries to the Welfare Department, Frontline News specifically requested clarification of the amount, if any, of monetary compensation the department could expect if Cyrus were to be placed in foster care with an adopting family. The department did not respond. The hospital, in its suit, labeled the accusation of “running a child trafficking ring” as “patently untrue,” but did not clarify whether or not the hospital receives government funding for referring a child to the Welfare Department for a potential seizure by Child Protective Services (CPS).
Claims of monetary incentives in following pandemic protocol
Joining the lawsuit is the hospital’s CEO, Chris Roth, who claims he was defamed by a statement that he, “personally profited from the pandemic.” Calling that statement “patently untrue,” he does not address whether he profited indirectly from the pandemic by securing additional funding for the hospital which could have been used to cover his salary, a bonus, or his expenses.
Claims of intimidation - legal carrying
The lawsuit also accuses the defendants of spreading “false claims” that would lead to “menacing crowds and potentially mob violence” while “foreseeing the consequences.” The petition alleged that the defendants were in fact successful in organizing a protest.
In response, crowds, many of whom carried firearms, began to join Bundy and Rodriguez at the hospital.
The lawsuit does not allege that violence actually took place or that firearms were used, nor does it mention whether it is out of the norm for Idahoans to carry their firearms in public. Idaho does not require any kind of permit to carry firearms, whether exposed or concealed.
The lawsuit further charges that defendants stated that God should “crush” evil. It does not allege that any particular action was taken in furtherance of this objective.
Media coverage
The Idaho Press described one of the defendants, the People’s Rights Network, as a “far-right, anti-government activist group led by Bundy,” and went on to claim that the defendants’ “campaign against CPS” led to a lockdown of the hospital, with four people being taken to alternative hospitals and protestors logging so many calls to complain to hospital staff that some calls to the hospital weren’t immediately answered.
The picture chosen for the Idaho Press article, though, shows a peaceful assembly across the road from the hospital and the same outlet’s report from the day of the lockdown states that the lockdown was actually a prophylactic measure, anticipating the possibility of blocked entrances, but proved unnecessary:
The protesters appeared to mostly stay on sidewalks, however, and the lockdown was lifted shortly before 3 p.m.
An opportunity
Defiantly, Rodriguez is excited by the discovery powers, including the ability to issue subpoenas that he has gained in his right to defend the very statements he is being sued for. Vowing not to be silenced, he reports on the lawsuit in St Luke's is Suing Us for Exposing Them, detailing his plan to get exact payment information for using ventilators and experimental drugs:
. . . we already know in this case that Chris Roth earned multiple millions of dollars in the 2 years since COVID, which is outrageously higher than any CEO had previously earned. So yeah, we get to find out how much money St. Luke's earned by giving Remdesivir to patients or by putting them on ventilators—treatments known to kill people, and treatments for which they were paid quite handsomely! Thanks guys! Thanks for this opportunity!
Rodriguez likewise looks forward to probing incentives for child seizures as well as monetary compensation for reports to CPS:
Dozens of questions that parental rights advocates and CPS opponents have been trying to find out for decades are now going to be subject to legal discovery in this case! What a gift! Thanks again!
Previous articles on the government’s seizure of Baby Cyrus
Medical Kidnapping: How even ideal parents lose their children
Baby Cyrus returned to parents after Frontline News inquiry to CPS
Medical Kidnapping; Legal Analysis of Baby Cyrus seizure
Medical Kidnapping? Breast milk-dependent infant deteriorates in state custody
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