BARDA Director Contests ‘Involuntary’ Transfer

Rick Bright, the ex-director of HHS’s Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), said yesterday that he was removed from his post because he pushed back against the administration’s promotion of two anti-malaria drugs to treat COVID-19.

Bright, who was reassigned this week to head a new COVID-19 diagnostics initiative at the NIH, claimed he was ejected from his leadership role at the government vaccine agency and demoted to a “less impactful position” stemming from his resistance to President Trump’s claims for hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine.

“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. “Sidelining me in the middle of this pandemic and placing politics and cronyism ahead of science puts lives at risk and stunts national efforts to safely and effectively address this urgent public health crisis.”

Bright said he will call for an investigation by HHS’s Inspector General into the politicization of the federal vaccines agency.

“Rushing blindly toward unproven drugs can be disastrous and result in countless more deaths,” he said.

Bright’s attorneys said that they will seek a stay of termination from the Office of Special Counsel and request that he be permitted to remain in his role as head of BARDA pending the investigation.

The White House and HHS did not return a request for comment. NIH responded by referring the request back to HHS.

When asked yesterday at the White House’s daily coronavirus briefing about the Bright ouster, Trump said, “I’ve never heard of him.” — James Miessler