Acting U.S. Attorney for Nevada Sigal Chattah and conservative lawyer Joey Gilbert are being sued by a woman accusing them of inadequate legal representation in a case surrounding the death of her father from COVID-19.

In late 2022, Chattah and Gilbert filed a wrongful death lawsuit against a Northern Nevada hospital for allegedly administering the COVID-19 treatment drug Remdesivir, which they said resulted in a man’s death from the virus. It was the first such lawsuit in the U.S., and the two touted their efforts on social media — Gilbert said that “a reckoning is coming,” while Chattah wrote that “They knew the science. They lied. They killed people. No mercy. No amnesty.”

However, according to a May lawsuit filed in Clark County by Melissa Dillon, the daughter of the man who died of the virus, Remdesivir was never administered to her father — and had Chattah and Gilbert done their due diligence when reviewing medical records, they would have known that before filing the lawsuit, which was dismissed in 2023. It also said the lawyers provided faulty representation by relying on an affidavit from Gilbert’s father, a doctor with no background in infectious diseases who stated Remdesivir caused the death of Dillon’s father.

“She was led to believe that her father was murdered for personal greed and profit by the healthcare industry, which was a lie,” the May lawsuit said. “[Gilbert and Chattah] desired to publicize their alleged crusade against medical professionals they claimed were ‘pure evil’ for fame and notoriety with the public.”

But Gilbert’s father, Warren Gilbert, filed a motion to dismiss the case on Monday after this story was first published, in which he reiterates his belief that Remdesivir was provided to Dillon’s father, citing medical records that show the drug was indeed administered. Dillon’s lawsuit had indicated that a third-party infectious disease expert determined that Remdesivir was not administered to her father, and that his treatment “did not fall below the standard of care.”

Joey Gilbert did not respond to a request for comment. Chattah declined to comment. Her lawyer, Joseph Garin, said in a statement that they “have full confidence in the legal process and trust that the appropriate resolution will be reached through the judicial system.”

The lawsuit, which has not been previously reported, is particularly notable because it includes Chattah, Nevada’s top federal law enforcement official whose term was recently extended by President Donald Trump. Chattah and Gilbert are longtime Trump supporters, with Gilbert coming second in a GOP primary for governor in 2022. Both have frequently espoused conspiracy theories about the pandemic.

In the suit, which is set for a hearing at the end of the month, Dillon also claims Chattah and Gilbert were unaware of a one-year statute of limitations — which was the reason the case was dismissed in 2023 — made several factual errors in the initial complaint and were unwilling to file an appeal because they determined the hospital might have been immune from prosecution in the first place.

Dillon accuses the lawyers of professional negligence, legal malpractice and breach of fiduciary duty and asks for damages of at least $60,000 and a jury trial.

In Chattah’s motion to dismiss the case, she makes no mention of whether Remdesivir was administered, but instead states that the accusations of legal malpractice do not hold merit because Dillon would not have achieved a more favorable outcome with better representation.

Additionally, Chattah’s response seeks to distance herself from the case, arguing that her representation of Dillon did not begin until after the statute of limitations had already expired. She provided a timeline stating that Gilbert was the one initially involved in the lawsuit and that her participation began “well after the theory of the case had already been discussed.”

Dillon claims Chattah was involved in the drafting of the lawsuit and cites January 2023 correspondence from Gilbert that Chattah was “driving the strategy and largely responsible for all the litigation decisions.”

Meanwhile, Gilbert also filed a motion to dismiss the case, arguing that he “reluctantly agreed” to take on Dillon’s case after she “relentlessly pushed to get her way.” His filing included text messages showing initial hesitancy to pursue the case, at one point saying “there’s nothing to file.” 

Months later, he texted that he was “happy to help” discuss legal options because “you guys have compensated me enough by helping with the [gubernatorial] campaign more so than probably anyone else did and I appreciate that so much. Campaign finance records do not show any financial support from Dillon to Gilbert’s campaign.

The Remdesivir dispute

The medical malpractice lawsuit filed by Gilbert and Chattah alleged Dillon’s father was administered Remdesivir despite his family’s objections. The drug is an injection approved to treat the virus, but has been the subject of baseless accusations of killing patients.

The suit relied heavily on an affidavit from Gilbert’s father, Dr. Warren Gilbert, a critic of Remdesivir. He tried to treat Dillon’s father with hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin, which he called “the cornerstones of treatment” for COVID-19. The medications have been touted by Trump and other conservatives, but medical experts have said they are not effective against the virus.

Warren Gilbert’s affidavit stated “it is also my expert opinion to a reasonable degree of medical probability” that the administering of Remdesivir caused the death of Dillon’s father, despite providing no evidence or specifics. 

However, in Warren Gilbert’s motion to dismiss, he included copies of medical records that appear to show several orders to administer Remdesivir, and that the drug was inserted into Dillon’s father’s vein.

But the latest lawsuit says Dillon found out in February from an infectious disease expert that Remdesivir was never given to her father.

“A competent review by a trained professional of the medical file would have revealed that Remdesivir was never administered,” the lawsuit said.

More details about the medical file reviewed by the third-party expert were not available in Dillon’s lawsuit.

Updated on 8/20/25 at 9:36 a.m. to include Joey and Warren Gilbert's motions to dismiss.