Originally posted by the Voice of America.
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Whistleblower Says US Officials Ignored Coronavirus Drug, Equipment Warnings

VOA News

   A senior U.S. government scientist is set to testify in a congressional
   hearing next week after filing a whistleblower complaint alleging
   officials retaliated against him for insisting on "scientifically
   vetted proposals" and "a more aggressive agency response to COVID-19."

   Congresswoman Anna Eshoo said Rick Bright's complaint raises serious
   concerns about the Trump administration's response to the coronavirus
   pandemic, and that she also wants to hear testimony from Health and
   Human Services Secretary Alex Azar and Assistant Secretary for
   Preparedness and Response Robert Kadlec.

   "This complaint alleges that the Administration has put cronyism and
   internal bickering ahead of protecting the health of Americans during a
   pandemic. Dr. Bright's complaint deserves examination," Eshoo said.

   Bright said Kadlec put pressure on his unit, the Biomedical Advanced
   Research and Development Authority, to invest in drugs and vaccines
   that lacked scientific merit, including the drug hydroxychloroquine.

   "Dr. Bright felt powerless to protect the public from this potentially
   toxic chemical that HHS, at President Trump's insistence, was touting
   as a safe treatment," the complaint says. "Yet he felt an urgent and
   compelling need to inform the American public that this drug with
   insufficient scientific data to support its use for COVID-19 patients,
   with known safety concerns, and with no FDA oversight over its quality
   was now being pushed or 'flooded' onto the streets of America."

   Dr. Leana Wen, an emergency physician and public health professor at
   George Washington University, told VOA the focus of the coronavirus
   response needs to be on science and that there is a reason drugs have
   to go through clinical trials.

   "If we ignore the science, we will pay the price," she said.
   "Decisions, policies should be made based on evidence and based on
   data, and it would be extremely concerning if our top scientists and
   doctors in the federal government are not able to do their part and
   make recommendations based on the best available science and evidence."

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