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| Hector Retamal/AFP via Getty Images |
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) commenced formal debarment proceedings against Dr. Peter Daszak, the president of EcoHealth Alliance – a firm that accused of using taxpayer funds to conduct gain-of-function research at the Wuhan lab before the COVID-19 pandemic began.
The move took place on Tuesday evening, according to the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic, and came one week after HHS implemented an immediate, government-wide suspension on all funds allocated to EcoHealth Alliance.
In a Tuesday letter to Daszak, a suspension and debarment official for HHS wrote, "This is to provide notification that, on behalf of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, I have suspended you and proposed you for debarment, related to your respective roles as the President of EcoHealth Alliance, Inc. and as Program Director/Principal Investigator on the National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease… from participating in United States Federal Government procurement and nonprocurement programs."
In an action referral memorandum, which cited several examples of EcoHealth's failure to comply with certain grant procedures, the same official wrote, "I find that the information in the record constitutes adequate evidence to demonstrate that the immediate suspension of Dr. Peter Daszak is necessary to protect the public interest provided his role as the President of EHA …"
The memorandum also pointed to EHA's work with the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) as a reason for the proposal of debarment proceedings against Daszak.
A review of EcoHealth's work, submitted two years late on Aug. 3, 2021, showed that work at the Wuhan Institute "had possibly yielded a greater" increase in viral activity, "in violation of the terms of the grant," the memorandum said.
Both EcoHealth and the Wuhan Institute were given "several opportunities to disprove this finding" by the National Institutes of Health, but "failed to do so," the memorandum added. Because of the failure to adequately respond, the National Institutes of Health's conclusion that the Wuhan Institute research "likely violated protocols regarding biosafety is undisputed," the document stated. --->READ MORE HERE
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The Biden administration said it has suspended from all federal funding programs the scientist at the heart of the lab leak theory of the origins of the coronavirus, and proposed blocking him from receiving federal funding in the future.
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) sent a letter to Peter Daszak on Tuesday, less than a week after the agency took similar action against Daszak’s organization, EcoHealth Alliance (EHA).
In the letter, HHS said it was holding Daszak responsible for EcoHealth Alliance’s failure to adequately monitor the activities of the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) and then subsequently failing to report on the lab’s high-risk virus studies.
“The alleged conduct of EHA is imputed to you, because during all or part of the time relevant, you participated in, knew of, or had reason to know of EHA’s improper conduct, through your role as the President of EHA” as well as project director and principal investigator, HHS wrote.
While bans generally last for about three years, “I may impose debarment for a longer period or shorter period as the circumstances warrant,” the agency said in the letter.
HHS cited information from 31 federal documents dating back to the National Institutes of Health’s initial 2014 grant to EcoHealth, leading up to the May 15 notice suspending and proposing debarment of Daszak’s organization.
EcoHealth and Daszak have come under fire from Republicans and Democrats over the group’s work with the Wuhan lab, particularly regarding controversial “gain of function” research to enhance the ability of the virus to cause disease or make it more transmissible. --->READ MORE HEREFollow links below to relevant/related stories and resources:
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