Who is Rick Bright? HHS official claims retaliation for disagreeing with Trump’s coronavirus response

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Ousted Health and Human Services official Rick Bright testified before Congress Thursday after filing a whistleblower complaint that he was removed from his position after refusing to go along with messages from the Trump administration touting hydroxychloroquine, a malaria drug that had not been proven effective against COVID-19.

President Trump has called Bright a “disgruntled employee, not liked or respected” who “should no longer be working for our government.”

Who is Rick Bright? 

Bright is the former director of the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA). He was removed from that post in April and reassigned to a post with the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Bright is currently out on sick leave and has not yet started at the NIH.

Bright, who has a Ph.D. in immunology, joined BARDA in 2010. From 2011-2015, he was both deputy director and acting director of BARDA's Influenza and Emerging Diseases Division. In 2016, he was appointed by President Obama to direct BARDA.

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Why does Bright say he was fired? 

Bright, in his whistleblower complaint, says that he was relegated to a lower position because he would not permit the widespread use of hydroxychloroquine, a malaria drug that Trump touted as being effective in treating patients with COVID-19.

Bright said the Trump administration wanted to “flood” hot spots in New York and New Jersey with the drug.

Bright alleges in the complaint that political appointees at the Department of Health and Human Services had tried to promote hydroxychloroquine “as a panacea.” The officials also “demanded that New York and New Jersey be ‘flooded’ with these drugs, which were imported from factories in Pakistan and India that had not been inspected by the FDA,” the complaint says.

But Bright says he opposed broad use of the drug, arguing the scientific evidence wasn’t there to back up its use in coronavirus patients. He felt an urgent need to tell the public that there wasn’t enough scientific evidence to support using the drugs for COVID-19 patients, the complaint states.

OUSTED HHS OFFICIAL RICK BRIGHT FILES WHISTLEBLOWER COMPLAINT

The complaint said Bright had complained officials had “refused to listen or take appropriate action to accurately inform the public” and spoke to a reporter who was working on a story about the drug.

In the complaint, Bright says he wants to return to his position as the director and a full investigation.

What does HHS say? 

Secretary of HHS Alex Azar has told the White House that Bright’s transfer to NIH was a promotion.

The department blasted Bright in a statement Thursday for “politicizing” coronavirus.

“Rick Bright was transferred from his role as BARDA director to lead a bold new $1 billion testing program at NIH, critical to saving lives and reopening America,” an HHS spokesperson said in a statement.

“Mr. Bright has not yet shown up for work, but continues to collect his $285,010 salary, while using his taxpayer-funded medical leave to work with partisan attorneys who are politicizing the response to COVID-19,” the statement continued.

A spokesperson for Bright, Kendra Barkoff Lamy, said he is “on sick leave due to hypertension caused by this current situation," according to Stat News.

The department has said Bright was a major proponent of hydroxychloroquine, the unproven coronavirus drug he claimed to be ousted for opposing.

"Under Rick Bright’s leadership, BARDA identified chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine as potential COVID-19 treatments. Rick Bright was the sponsor of getting hydroxychloroquine and praised his team for acquiring the drugs," HHS said.

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“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 tweeted Thursday morning.