N.I.H. Did Not Properly Track a Group Studying Coronaviruses, Report Finds
New York TimesDec 23, 2022
US Government Suspending Funding for EcoHealth
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The Facts
In a letter from the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the Biden administration Wednesday announced it was suspending funding for EcoHealth Alliance — a nonprofit group known for studying the threat of wild animal viruses, including COVID.
The letter said three active National Institutes of Health (NIH) grants totaling $2.6M for last year are being suspended, and there's a proposal to bar EcoHealth from receiving future federal research funding.
The Spin
Narrative A
For too long, EcoHealth has gotten away with waste, fraud, and abuse of the terms of its taxpayer-funded grants. The group denies the accusations, but it delays and stalls at every turn when asked to cooperate with Congressional investigations. Congress must continue to look into EcoHealth to determine if it has broken any laws.
Narrative B
Politics has clouded the minds of lawmakers from both sides of the aisle while they attempt to pin down the cause of the COVID pandemic. EcoHealth is being scapegoated and there's no evidence tying any research the group conducted with the Wuhan Institute of Virology and the origin of COVID. The truth will come out when EcoHealth's appeal is heard.
