WASHINGTON – Critical steps were not taken in time in the early stages of the coronavirus outbreak, Rick Bright, an immunologist who says he was unfairly ousted from the Department of Health and Human Services, told a House panel Thursday.
Bright said he’d known for some time that the nation’s stockpile of supplies was insufficient and pushed urgently in January to ramp up production of masks, respirators and other supplies.
“Those alarms were not responded to,” he told a subcommittee of the House Energy and Commerce Committee.
Bright also said he unsuccessfully tried to increase the availability of Remdesivir, a drug that has shown a modest benefit for patients with COVID-19.
“I was told that my urgings were causing a commotion and I was removed from those meetings.”
Bright said the window is closing to address the pandemic because the nation still lacks a standard, centralized coordinated plan.
For example, he said, doses of Remdesivir are still limited.
“And we don’t have a plan for how to scale up the drug,” Bright said.
- Maureen Groppe
Bright warns of 'darkest winter in modern history'
An immunologist who says he was unfairly ousted from the Department of Health and Human Services plans to tell a House panel on Thursday that if the U.S. does not develop a plan to address a second wave of the virus, the country will experience the "darkest winter in modern history."
Rick Bright, who was removed last month from his position as the director of HHS' Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), is scheduled to testify before the House Energy and Commerce Committee at a hearing titled, "Protecting Scientific Integrity in the COVID-19 Response."
"Our window of opportunity is closing. If we fail to develop a national coordinated response, based in science, I fear the pandemic will get far worse and be prolonged, causing unprecedented illness and fatalities," Bright says in a copy of his planned opening statement to the panel. "While it is terrifying to acknowledge the extent of the challenge that we currently confront, the undeniable fact is there will be a resurgence of the COVID19 this fall, greatly compounding the challenges of seasonal influenza and putting an unprecedented strain on our health care system."
In his statement, Bright says he began warning in January that the outbreak required the urgent "development of critical medical countermeasures" but "HHS leadership was dismissive about my dire predictions" and "were therefore unwilling to act with the urgency that the situation required."
As he called for the increased production of medical supplies and personal protective equipment through February and March, Bright says he "faced hostility and marginalization from HHS officials" and was "cut out of key high-level meetings."
Bright said he was finally removed from BARDA when he "resisted efforts to promote and enable broad access to an unproven drug, chloroquine, to the American people without transparent information on the potential health risks."
President Donald Trump publicly touted the rumored efficacy of chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine as a potential "game-changer" in the fight against the virus even as Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said there was only "anecdotal" evidence of its success.
Bright has filed a whistleblower complaint alleging he was ousted in retaliation for his views. Last week, the Office of Special Counsel said there were "reasonable grounds" to believe Bright was ousted in retaliation for his efforts to sound the alarm about the outbreak.
Bright has also alleged he was pressured to award government contracts "based on political connections." On Tuesday, the Office of Special Counsel said in a letter to Bright's attorneys that based on the information he had shared, there was a "substantial likelihood of wrongdoing." The special counsel's office said it was calling on HHS Secretary Alex Azar to open an investigation into Bright's allegations.
BARDA is designed to aid in securing the nation from chem, biological, radiological, and nuclear threats, as well as from pandemic influenza and emerging infectious diseases, according to the HHS website. Part of BARDA's work against COVID-19 includes assisting in the development of a vaccine.
"Sidelining me in the middle of this pandemic and placing politics and cronyism ahead of science puts lives at risk and stunts national efforts to safely and effectively address this urgent public health crisis," Bright said in a statement last month calling for an Inspector General's investigation.
Trump paradoxically said in a tweet ahead of Bright's testimony that he had both never heard of him, and that people told him Bright was not held in high regard by his colleagues.
"I don’t know the so-called Whistleblower Rick Bright, never met him or even heard of him, but to me he is a disgruntled employee, not liked or respected by people I spoke to and who, with his attitude, should no longer be working for our government!" Trump said.
I don’t know the so-called Whistleblower Rick Bright, never met him or even heard of him, but to me he is a disgruntled employee, not liked or respected by people I spoke to and who, with his attitude, should no longer be working for our government!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 14, 2020
Prior to his reassignment, Bright had received an "outstanding" performance review.
In his statement to lawmakers on Thursday, Bright said he was testifying "because science – not politics or cronyism – must lead the way to combat this deadly virus."
The coronavirus has infected nearly 1.4 million people in the U.S. and has killed more than 84,000.
Bright's testimony comes two days after Fauci warned of increased "suffering and death" if states begin to lift their lockdown measures, which aim to slow the spread of the disease, too quickly
"As I reflect on the past few months of this outbreak, it is painfully clear that we were not as prepared as we should have been," Bright says. "We missed early warning signals and we forgot important pages from our pandemic playbook. There will be plenty of time to identify gaps for improvement. For now, we need to focus on getting things right going forward."
Bright outlines several steps he believes are necessary to take to minimize the damage before the cure he believes will come is discovered. He called for a public education campaign on mitigation techniques such as handwashing, social distancing and wearing masks, adding that "leaders must lead by modeling the behavior"; increased production of medical supplies and PPE; a national distribution system for those supplies that stops "state vs. state competition"; and a national testing strategy."
"We will either be remembered for what we did or for what we failed to do to address this crisis," Bright concludes.
Contributing: David Jackson, USA TODAY; The Associated Press
