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According to foreign media The Verge,Rick Bright, a US federal investigator. USA And a vaccine development expert, he said he was fired from health after opposing the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) promotion of hydroxychloroquine as a treatment for COVID-19. USA Responsibilities to the Department of Human Services (HHS).
“I think this reallocation is for me to insist that the government allocate billions of dollars allocated by Congress to the solution to the COVID-19 pandemic, rather than investing in drugs, vaccines and other technologies that lack scientific value.” , said. In a statement to the New York Times.
Bright headed the HHS Advanced Biomedical Research and Development Agency (BARDA), which focuses on developing drugs for emergencies like global pandemics. They have always been at the center of the COVID-19 response and have established alliances with pharmaceutical companies dedicated to treatment and vaccines. Bright was transferred to a new position at the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
In a statement, he said he opposed the call to widely provide chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine to patients with new coronaviruses who are not hospitalized: These drugs are commonly used to treat malaria, lupus and arthritis. There is currently no evidence that these drugs are a safe and effective treatment for COVID-19, but the President of the United States, Trump, has spent a lot of time in the last month recommending the use of these drugs.
Trump said at a press conference on April 5: “This is a very powerful drug, but it will not cause death. We have some very good results and some very good tests.”
Researchers are still studying hydroxychloroquine, which is part of a global trial being conducted through the World Health Organization. However, although there are some initial data that may be useful for patients with COVID-19, other studies have shown that it does not provide any benefit, as it can cause dangerous side effects.
“I legitimately resisted efforts to provide an unproven drug to the American public,” Bright said in a statement. “I insist that these medications are only available to hospitalized patients diagnosed with COVID-19 and are also provided under the supervision of a physician.”
Treatment guidelines from the National Institutes of Health say there is not enough data to recommend or oppose the use of these medications. Outside of clinical trials, they said, patients shouldn’t use hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin at the same time. Bright has been working at BARDA since 2010.
Bright said: “This pandemic has kept me out of the way, putting politics and cronyism ahead of science, putting lives at risk, hampering national efforts to resolve this pressing public health crisis safely and effectively.”