An ousted U.S. health expert filed a whistleblower's complaint on Tuesday accusing the Trump administration of downplaying the coronavirus threat and retaliating by ousting him when he raised concerns.
Gloria Tso reports.
An ousted U.S. health expert filed a whistleblower's complaint on Tuesday (May 5) accusing the Trump administration of downplaying the coronavirus threat and retaliating by ousting him when he raised concerns.
Rick Bright said in the complaint that he warned about the virus in January but that he was met with hostility from Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar and other top officials.
Bright is an expert in vaccines and therapeutics and before his ouster, he was director of the agency under HHS responsible for developing drugs to fight COVID-19.
He assumed the post in 2016 before Trump had taken office.
Last month, HHS said Bright was moved to new position under the National Institutes of Health.
In a statement, Bright said he was reassigned in part because he resisted efforts to push hydroxychloroquine and other anti-malaria drugs as potential cures for COVID-19.
He added that the Trump administration has promoted the medicines even though they quote "clearly lack scientific merit." And when asked about Bright's removal last month Trump said he knew nothing about him.
When a reporter said, "he (Bright) was retaliated against because he refused to promote hydroxychloroquine." Trump said: "That I don't know, again I don't know anything about it.
Easy, easy, just take it nice and easy.
I don't know anything about him, until yesterday I never heard of the gentleman." Bright's lawyers argue that his removal from his former post violated a federal law protecting government whistleblowers.
An HHS spokeswoman did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Bright's complaint also requests he be reinstated and calls for a full investigation.
It also says his tensions with HHS leadership date back to before the coronavirus and that since 2017, he has been protesting quote "cronyism and award of contracts to companies with political connections to the administration." Democrats and some Republicans have also criticized Trump for playing down the virus threat.
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