A former top vaccine official removed from his post last month alleged in a whistleblower complaint on Tuesday that he was reassigned to a less prestigious role because he tried to “prioritize science and safety over political expediency” and raised health concerns over a drug repeatedly pushed by President Trump and other administration officials as a possible cure for coronavirus.
Rick Bright, former director of the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, was removed from his post on April 20 after having served as BARDA director for nearly four years. He was reassigned to a narrower role at the National Institutes of Health that the Department of Health and Human Services touted as part of a “bold new plan” to defeat covid-19, the disease caused by coronavirus.
Bright portrays himself in the 89-page complaint as one of the administration’s health officials trying to sound the alarm about the virus as early as January. He said he called for the rapid development of treatments and vaccines, as well as the stockpiling of additional N95 masks and ventilators, at a time when HHS political leadership, including Secretary Alex Azar, appeared to him to be underestimating the threat.
He also notes that he clashed with his boss, assistant secretary for preparedness and response at HHS Robert Kadlec, for at least two years, according to the complaint. Bright alleged that Kadlec and others pressured him to buy drugs and medical products for the nation’s stockpile of emergency medical equipment from companies that were linked politically to the administration and that he resisted such efforts.
On a call with reporters on Tuesday, Bright’s lawyers, Debra Katz and Lisa Banks, said Bright came under pressure from Kadlec to award contracts “based on political connections and cronyism,” and that he was met with indifference from top HHS officials when he tried to sound the alarm about coronavirus in January.
“Dr. Bright’s removal from BARDA was retaliation, plain and simple,” Katz said.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/healt...wer-complaint/
All hail the great leader, 70k dead and counting, but some are cashing in.
Ousted vaccine official alleges he was demoted for prioritizing ‘science and safety’
