Expert claims reprisal for opposing virus drug Trump touted

Apr 23, 20200

Gerard Julien/afp – Tns - Tns count

Medical staff on February 26, 2020, in Marseille, France, display packets of a Nivaquine tablets, containing chloroquine, and Plaqueril tablets, containing hydroxychloroquine. A top U.S. health official who was helping lead efforts to find a coronavirus vaccine said he was removed from his post because he insisted on limiting the use of the drug President Donald Trump has pushed as a COVID-19 treatment despite little clinical evidence it works.

WASHINGTON - The head of a government agency combating the coronavirus pandemic alleged Wednesday that he was ousted for opposing politically connected efforts to promote a malaria drug that President Donald Trump touted without proof as a remedy for COVID-19.

Rick Bright, former director of the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, said in a statement that he was summarily removed from his job on Tuesday and reassigned to a lesser role. His lawyers, Debra Katz and Lisa Banks, called it "retaliation plain and simple."

https://www.startribune.com/expert-claims-reprisal-for-opposing-virus-drug-trump-touted/569869702/