Federal agency says removal of vaccine chief may have been retaliation
(CNN) — The investigative office reviewing the whistleblower complaint of former federal vaccine chief Dr. Richard Bright has determined there is reason to believe he had been removed as retaliation, Bright’s lawyers said Friday.
The office is recommending he be reinstated during the investigation, the lawyers said. Bright had led the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority since 2016 when he was reassigned last month to a narrower position at the National Institutes of Health.
The Office of Special Counsel “advised that in light of this determination, it would contact the Department of Health and Human Services (‘HHS’) to request that it stay Dr. Bright’s removal as Director of BARDA for 45 days to allow OSC sufficient time to complete its investigation of Bright’s allegations,” Bright’s lawyers said in a statement.
Bright filed a whistleblower complaint earlier this week, alleging that his early warnings about the coronavirus were ignored and that his reluctance to make “potentially harmful drugs” available for treating COVID-19, including hydroxychloroquine, eventually led to his firing.
“I was pressured to let politics and cronyism drive decisions over the opinions of the best scientists we have in government,” Bright told reporters on Tuesday.
Bright said in the complaint he raised urgent concerns about shortages of critical supplies, including masks, to his superiors in the Trump administration but was met with skepticism and surprise.
The administration has maintained that Bright was moved to the new National Institutes of Health role to work on testing. A Department of Health and Human Services spokesperson told CNN on Tuesday that the administration is “deeply disappointed” Bright has not taken up his new role yet, but Bright’s representatives say he has not been given any details about his new role.
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