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Dr. Rick Bright says Trump fired him for opposing chloroquine treatment

posted 5 years ago by HarlemEagle42 (18430)
15 replies | jump to latest

This past Tuesday, a government study failed to support Trump's claims about its effectiveness.

TEXT:

The head of the US agency in charge of developing a vaccine against coronavirus said Wednesday that he was removed from his job for opposing the chloroquine treatment promoted by President Donald Trump.

Dr Rick Bright said he was removed on Tuesday as director of the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), the government agency for developing and procuring treatments and vaccines, and moved to a lesser position in the National Institutes of Health.

"I believe this transfer was in response to my insistence that the government invest the billions of dollars allocated by Congress to address the COVID-19 pandemic into safe and scientifically vetted solutions, and not in drugs, vaccines and other technologies that lack scientific merit," he said in a statement to US media.

He said the move was a direct response to his resistance to "misguided directives" to support the use of malaria treatments chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine for coronavirus.

Those treatments, he said, were "promoted by the administration as a panacea," but "clearly lack scientific merit.".

"While I am prepared to look at all options and to think 'outside the box' for effective treatments, I rightly resisted efforts to provide an unproven drug on demand to the American public."

Since mid-March Mr Trump, backed by the conservative Fox News channel, has advocated for the use of chloroquine to treat COVID-19 infections, with scant evidence from studies of its safety or effectiveness.

Despite his own science advisors suggesting more study is needed, Mr Trump repeatedly pushed for the drugs' use, claiming the treatment could be a "gift from God" to counter the coronavirus pandemic.

On Tuesday the results of the largest study yet of hydroxychloroquine, funded by the US government, showed no benefit against the disease over standard care.

And in fact it showed use of hydroxychloroquine was associated with more deaths.

https://www.sbs.com.au/news/us-vaccine-expert-says-he-was-removed-from-job-for-opposing-unvetted-donald-trump-backed-drug?fbclid=IwAR0ms7yU3jEE8kubnkPsmwm8ug1TbLggbj9P3LBtZGb5-7_yonnn-y2208U

[–] elcamino (15540) 5 years ago

Well thankfully he wasn't around during the space program start.But really he would have gotten kicked out there also.

[–] HarlemEagle42 (18430) 5 years ago

The jig is up. Fauci is showing no mercy:

US government recommendations

A panel of experts put together by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, the agency led by Dr Anthony Fauci, released treatment guidelines for Covid-19 on 21 April. The panel said that there was insufficient data to “recommend either for or against” hydroxychloroquine or chloroquine. However, the panel recommended against the use of hydroxychloroquine with azithromycin due to the risk of cardiac arrhythmia.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/22/hydroxychloroquine-coronavirus-scientific-studies-research

Even Fox News is relenting.

https://www.foxnews.com/science/covid-19-hydroxychloroquine-showed-no-benefit-more-deaths-va-virus-study

[–] Sandman27 (3043) 5 years ago

Fox News thanks you for your viewership.

Did you read the article? It stated it was a retrospective data analysis on confirmed patients with SARS. This was not a clinical trial. That's a big difference.

[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

What a shock, I tell you!

T-rump fired a well-educated medical professional because he disagreed with him ? Can't be...

[–] elcamino (15540) 5 years ago

Nut job
https://nypost.com/2020/04/23/rick-bright-hires-anti-kavanaugh-lawyers-in-white-house-battle/
But the Trump administration’s leadership team long faulted Bright for an array of management problems, including complaints about BARDA’s pace and strategy, concerns echoed by outside observers. For instance, Bright steered multiple investments with companies like Roche and Sanofi to develop what are known as IL-6 inhibitors, which target potential drivers of inflammation in Covid-19 patients with severe disease; scientists have found evidence that the IL-6 agents could prevent some of the ravages of Covid-19. But leaders and observers thought the decisions were duplicative, noting that Eli Lilly is also pursuing a government-backed investigation into IL-6 inhibitors too.
“That’s three bets on basically the same mechanism of action,” said one outside analyst with knowledge of BARDA operations. “To do it to the exclusion of all else was insane.”
https://www.politico.com/news/2020/04/22/hhs-ousts-vaccine-expert-as-covid-19-threat-grows-201642

[–] joej2923 (3145) 5 years ago

The government should have at least three competitors working on a drug since one company would raise prices if it had sole authority to manufacture the drug. Additionally, the odds for success are greater when more teams are working on a solution. These drug companies regularly raise prices and they are usually in the top five most profitable industries.

[–] kukuxu (5409) 5 years ago

into safe and scientifically vetted solutions, [...] technologies that lack scientific merit [...] clearly lack scientific merit[...] science advisors suggesting more study is needed

Firing him was a good idea.

Right now, there's no such a thing as a solution with "scientific merit", beyond a strict quarantine that would destroy the economy of any non-Asian country.

The best you can do is to make a bet. Chloroquine looks like one of the best ones right now. Perhaps it will work, perhaps it won't. But you can't wait until it has been fully proven to start production, because it will be too late by then.

If a guy keeps repeating "scientific" in every sentence, without really understanding what that word means, the best you can do is to fire him.

[–] joej2923 (3145) 5 years ago

Bright has a PHD in a scientific field so he clearly knows science. I'm confident that the only solution to the pandemic is a scientific solution and I don't want the government of the USA "making a bet" on the lives of its citizenry.

Dr. Bright received his PhD in Immunology and Molecular Pathogenesis from Emory University (Atlanta, GA) and his BS in Biology (Medical Technology) and Physical Sciences from Auburn University (Montgomery, AL).

https://www.who.int/blueprint/about/Rick-Bright/en/

[–] kukuxu (5409) 5 years ago

Bright has a PHD in a scientific field so he clearly knows science. I'm confident that the only solution to the pandemic is a scientific solution and I don't want the government of the USA "making a bet" on the lives of its citizenry.

I see. 1.5 "scientific" per sentence on average. If you think that he shouldn't have been fired, it means that it was a very good idea to fire him.

[–] ultravioletx (10237) 5 years ago

Chloroquine has no scientific merit as a viable treatment for covid-19. But more specifically, we're talking about vaccines here. While chloroquine is still up for debate whether it can treat covid-19, what's not up for debate is whether it is a vaccine. It most definitely is not, which is why nobody has ever claimed that it was.

Please, for the love of god, stop simping for Trump.

[–] joej2923 (3145) 5 years ago

Trump's tyranny is exposing all of the flaws in the US government. My big concern is that the President can have career officials fired or moved if they disagree with his agenda. Per the article below, Trump removed two inspector generals in a week since they didn't agree with his agenda. Bright is sending his complaint to the inspector general but I fear that Trump can fire or reassign the IG to get someone who agrees with his agenda.

Congress is supposed to provide a check to Trump's authority but the Senate is complicit with his agenda and approves his nominees to be government officials and judges. Even if an IG report is critical of Trump, the complicit Senate is the body that is responsible for voting Trump out of office. The Supreme Court is finally supposed to work on the Trump absolute immunity cases this Spring but a few of the SC judges have supported strong executive powers.

https://www.lawfareblog.com/why-trumps-inspector-general-purge-not-national-scandal

[–] HarlemEagle42 (18430) 5 years ago

Another study shows it had no effect on critically ill coronavirus patients.

TEXT:

Preliminary results of a study on hydroxychloroquine in New York showed that the anti-malaria drug had no effect on critically ill coronavirus patients, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Thursday.

The study, sponsored by the Department of Health, looked at about 600 patients at 22 hospitals in the greater New York City area.

“I think from the review that I heard basically it was not seen as a positive, not seen as a negative,” Cuomo said during a CNN town hall.

Some seriously ill COVID-19 patients in the state began to be treated with the drug, at times in combination with the antibiotic Zithromax, or azithromycin, earlier this month.

President Trump has touted hydroxychloroquine as a potential life-saver, although there is no widespread scientific evidence to date showing it helps battle COVID-19.

Those who took the medicine, with or without the antibiotic, weren’t any more likely to survive than those who didn’t, the lead researcher on the New York study told CNN.

“We don’t see a statistically significant difference between patients who took the drugs and those who did not,” said David Holtgrave, dean of the University at Albany School of Public Health.

The drug also proved to be no better than standard care in a smaller study of 300 male patients at Veterans Health Administration medical centers across the nation.

https://nypost.com/2020/04/23/hydroxychloroquine-had-no-effect-on-seriously-ill-in-new-york-study/

[–] elcamino (15540) 5 years ago

I think nothing would help someone critically ill.

[–] HarlemEagle42 (18430) 5 years ago

??. Then why was he praising it to high heaven if it's useless?

[–] elcamino (15540) 5 years ago

For trials to see the limits it has and when to administer it.When someone is in a coma that is to late.
Detroit Rep. Karen Whitsett says she was experiencing the worst symptoms associated with the coronavirus before she took the drug hydroxychloroquine. If it weren't for President Trump, Rep. Whitsett says the drug wouldn't have been accessible to patients like herself. Less than two hours after taking hydroxychloroquine, the lawmaker said she began feeling the first signs of relief.

“Thank you for everything that you have done,” Whitsett told Trump and Vice President Mike Pence at the White House on April 14. “I did not know that saying thank you had a political line…I thought just saying thank you meant ‘thank you.'”