Head Of Barda Forcibly Removed Because Of President Trump's Pressure To Push Anti-Malarial Drug?

There are several questions that remain unanswered— as far as Dr. Rick Bright being reassigned in the midst of the pandemic is concerned. While speculations are rife that President Trump’s obsession with a certain anti-malarial drug could be one of the key reasons, the abrupt removal of Bright in the last week also puts the Trump administration accountable for its management of the crisis.

Bright is currently working on the details of the complaint, which he plans to register with the Department of Health and Human Services. The Vaccine expert claims that the unforeseen move—his removal—could be traced to the fact that the expert resisted and refuted the benefits of hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine in treating the novel coronavirus. He alleged that saving lives is the need of the hour.

“I am speaking out because to combat this deadly virus, science – not politics or cronyism – has to lead the way,” said Bright in a statement, while expressing concerns over how conscious efforts were being made to fund and promote potentially dangerous drugs by powerful political connections.

President Trump has been a staunch promoter of the drugs and has touted them to be a “game-changer” despite there being no scientific reasoning backing his claim. The recent move sent shockwaves across the health fraternity in the United States, with several experts hinting at there being more than what meets the eye.

“Dr. Bright is a strong scientist, he is a visionary leader, he’s able to make decisions, he gets things done, and he believes and he stands on strong science,” said Nicole Lurie, former assistant secretary at the Department of Health and Human Services to a media outlet. “I think this is about something larger than hydroxychloroquine. I think it’s really about listening to scientific opinion, scientific perspective, and standing up for strong science,” Lurie added.

As per recent reports, The former head of Barda’s lawyers, Lisa Banks and Debra Katz, alleged that Bright was shown the door solely because he was ethical enough in his research to have “resisted efforts to provide unfettered access to potentially dangerous drugs, including chloroquine, a drug promoted by the administration as a panacea, but which is untested and possibly deadly when used improperly.”

Officials at the Department of Health and Human Services has denied any such claims- especially those made by Bright and reiterated that the top doc was moved to a more significant role— managing a public-private partnership on vaccine development and treatment.

Opining about the same, Trump stated that he wasn’t sure if Bright was ever entrusted with the responsibility of finding a vaccine for a global health crisis that has infected over one million Americans, and claimed 60,000 lives.