A top official at Health and Human Services says he was ousted from his job this week for pushing back on demands that he sign off on a coronavirus treatment that was advocated by the president.
"I believe this transfer was in response to my insistence that the government invest the billions of dollars allocated by Congress to address the COVID-19 pandemic into safe and scientifically vetted solutions, and not in drugs, vaccines and other technologies that lack scientific merit. I am speaking out because to combat this deadly virus, science — not politics or cronyism — has to lead the way," Dr. Rick Bright said Wednesday in a statement issued by his lawyers.
“Specifically, and contrary to misguided directives, I limited the broad use of chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine, promoted by the Administration as a panacea, but which clearly lack scientific merit. While I am prepared to look at all options and to think 'outside the box' for effective treatments, I rightly resisted efforts to provide an unproven drug on demand to the American public," Bright said in the statement, which was first reported by the New York Times.
Trump had repeatedly touted the drug as a potential "game changer" in treating coronavirus patients. A preliminary nationwide study, however, found the drug was ineffective in treating the virus and there were more deaths among those given hydroxychloroquine versus standard care. Meanwhile, a panel of experts convened by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases recommended doctors not use a combination of hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin to treat COVID-19 patients because of potential severe health risks. Trump had urged they be taken together.
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Asked about Bright's transfer at the White House coronavirus briefing Wednesday night, President Donald Trump said, "I never heard of him."
Bright had been the director of the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) and HHS Deputy Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response by the Administration until earlier this week, when he says he was "involuntarily transferred to a more limited and less impactful position at the National Institutes of Health."
He said he'd spent his "entire career in vaccine development."
“To this point, I have led the government’s efforts to invest in the best science available to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. Unfortunately, this resulted in clashes with HHS political leadership, including criticism for my proactive efforts to invest early in vaccines and supplies critical to saving American lives. I also resisted efforts to fund potentially dangerous drugs promoted by those with political connections," he said.
The statement did not specify who those people are.
Bright said he insisted the drugs "be provided only to hospitalized patients with confirmed COVID-19 while under the supervision of a physician. These drugs have potentially serious risks associated with them, including increased mortality observed in some recent studies in patients with COVID-19."
He contended his ouster in the middle of a pandemic is "placing politics and cronyism ahead of science" and "puts lives at risk."
He said he would asked HHS's Inspector General to “investigate the manner in which this Administration has politicized the work of BARDA and has pressured me and other conscientious scientists to fund companies with political connections as well as efforts that lack scientific merit. Rushing blindly towards unproven drugs can be disastrous and result in countless more deaths. Science, in service to the health and safety of the American people, must always trump politics."
His lawyers, Debra Katz and Lisa Banks, said they'll seek a stay "of this unlawful forced transfer."
HHS did not respond to requests for comment.
A source close to Bright told NBC News he “has not been given any information about his new role at NIH," and "will fight to return to his position leading BARDA, where he can continue to use his vast experience and skills to work to end this pandemic.”
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April 23, 2020 at 08:09AM
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Top health official says he was ousted for pushing back on Trump's 'game changer' drug - NBCNews.com
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