WASHINGTON: Anticipation is building over the content of an upcoming complaint by whistleblower by Dr Rick Bright, who was unexpectedly removed last week as the head of the federal government office working on a vaccine for COVID-19.
It is believed that Bright is currently working on the details of the complaint before lodging it with the inspector general of Department of Health and Human Services.
A vaccine expert, Bright has claimed he was removed as head of the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (Barda) because he opposed a move to use of hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine to treat COVID-19.
The two drugs, approved by the FDA for treatment of malaria, are yet to be proven effective as a cure for coronavirus infection, which have been repeatedly promoted by Trump. In fact, the US President dubbed the drugs as a “game-changer”.
A statement issued by Bright said, “I am speaking out because to combat this deadly virus, science – not politics or cronyism – has to lead the way. He added that he was concerned about “efforts to fund potentially dangerous drugs promoted by people with political connections”.
According to Bright’s lawyers, Lisa Banks and Debra Katz, their client was pushed out of his job only because he “resisted efforts to provide unfettered access to potentially dangerous drugs, including chloroquine, a drug promoted by the administration as a panacea, but which is untested and possibly deadly when used improperly”.
It is expected that Bright’s complaint will shed new light on the political pressure exerted by the Trump administration on health officials to back up the President’s sweeping praise of the drugs as a key weapon against COVID-19.
According to a report in Vanity Fair, administration officials pushed for the widespread use of hydroxychloroquine, despite the fact that FDA warned against their use.
Meanwhile, Nicole Lurie, former assistant secretary at the Department of Health and Human Services, told CNN, “Dr Bright is a strong scientist, he is a visionary leader, he’s able to make decisions, he get things done, and he believes and he stands on strong science,”. She went on to add, “I think this is about something larger than hydroxychloroquine. I think it’s really about listening to scientific opinion, scientific perspective and standing up for strong science.”
Top Department of Health and Human Services officials have, however, disputed Bright’s account, saying that he has been moved to an important role managing a public-private partnership on vaccine development and treatment. On the other hand, when asked about Bright, Trump said that he had never heard of the man heading the effort to find a vaccine for a virus that has already caused more than 60,000 deaths in the US. Two days after Bright announcing his planned whistleblower complaint, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a warning against the use of chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine. The drugs, the regulator warned, can cause a number of side-effects “including serious heart rhythm problems that can be life-threatening”.
Agencies
