Head of Department in Charge of Developing Coronavirus Vaccine Claims He Was Ousted Over Reluctance to Malaria Drug: Report

The doctor in charge of a federal department that is responsible for developing a vaccine to the coronavirus claims he was removed for limiting the use of chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine as treatments for the virus.

Dr. Rick Bright, the former head of the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), told The New York Times he believes he was removed from his position for limiting the use of those two drugs — which President Donald Trump has repeatedly touted as potential cures for the virus.

Bright, who was removed this week, was given a narrower position at the National Institutes of Health (NIH.)

“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,” Bright said in a statement to the Times.

He added, “I am speaking out because to combat this deadly virus, science — not politics or cronyism — has to lead the way.”

Neither the White House nor the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) responded to the Times’ story.

Bright, who led the agency since 2016, said, “My professional background has prepared me for a moment like this — to confront and defeat a deadly virus that threatens Americans and people around the globe. To this point, I have led the government’s efforts to invest in the best science available to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.”

Additionally, he said that he frequently clashed with HHS leadership over directives to allow widespread use of the drugs, “I limited the broad use of chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine, promoted by the administration as a panacea, but which clearly lack scientific merit.”