Rick Bright said in a statement that he was speaking out publicly, “because science has to show the way to fight this deadly virus – not politics or nepotism.” The White House has so far refused to comment, President Trump says he doesn’t know Bright.
A senior US government official and vaccination expert say he was withdrawn from his post because of his resistance to scientifically questionable corona treatments.
The director of an agency subordinate to the United States Department of Health, Rick Bright, said in a statement on Wednesday (local time) that he had been transferred to a less influential position in another agency against his will. He was convinced that this had happened because he insisted on investing the funds provided by the American Congress in the corona crisis in safe and scientifically proven solutions – and not in medicines, vaccines, and other technologies, the benefits of which are scientifically disputed.
Bright previously led a biomedical research and development agency that is also involved in the development of a vaccine against the coronavirus. He said he had, among other things, resisted the large-scale use of chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine – a malaria drug that US President Donald Trump had repeatedly advertised as a possible miracle cure for the coronavirus.
The scientific benefit of the drug has not been proven, Bright criticized. Because of the potentially great risks of the drug, he insisted that it only be used for COVID 19 patients under medical supervision in hospitals, but not made available to the general population.
He spoke up publicly, “because science has to show the way to fight this deadly virus – not politics or nepotism”. Bright made serious allegations: “”Stopping myself in the middle of this pandemic and putting politics and nepotism before science endangers lives and hinders national efforts to safely and effectively tackle this pressing public health crisis.””
The “New York Times” wrote that neither the Ministry of Health nor the White House wanted to comment on the personnel. Trump said Wednesday night (local time) at a press conference in Washington overlooking Bright, “I’ve never heard of him. (…) I don’t know who that is. ”
