The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) debarred EcoHealth Alliance Inc. and its former President Dr. Peter Daszak, formally blocking both the firm and the doctor from receiving federal funds for five years. EcoHealth allegedly failed to report dangerous gain-of-function experiments to the government, which eventually led to the debarment. In the notice of debarment for Daszak, an HHS official wrote that the actions taken were “necessary” to protect US government business interests.
House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., cheered on the debarment in a statement, calling it “justice for the American people.” Comer went on to slam “bad actor” EcoHealth and “its corrupt former president” for using taxpayer dollars to carry out “dangerous gain-of-function research in China.”
In May, the Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic, which is under the House Oversight Committee, issued an interim report detailing the findings of its investigation into government funding and lack of oversight on gain-of-function research.
Security personnel stand guard outside the Wuhan Institute of Virology in Wuhan as members of the World Health Organization (WHO) team investigating the origins of the COVID-19 coronavirus made a visit to the institute in Wuhan in China’s central Hubei province on February 3, 2021. (Hector Retamal/AFP via Getty Images)
HHS MOVES TO DEBAR ECOHEALTH ALLIANCE PRESIDENT OVER FAILURE TO COMPLY WITH GRANT PROCEDURES
The subcommittee noted in the report that it had found “significant evidence” that Daszak “repeatedly violated the terms of the NIH grant awarded to EcoHealth.” In light of the findings, the committee ultimately recommended EcoHealth and Deszak be formally debarred and blocked from receiving “any” federal funding.
Additionally, in its review, the committee accused EcoHealth of failing to submit an annual research update, only to file it in August 2021, nearly two years after the September 2019 deadline.
Peter Daszak (R), Thea Fischer (L) and other members of the World Health Organization (WHO) team investigating the origins of the COVID-19 coronavirus, arrive at the Wuhan Institute of Virology in Wuhan in China’s central Hubei province on Feb. 3, 2021. (HECTOR RETAMAL/AFP via Getty Images)
“EcoHealth Alliance President Dr. Peter Daszak is not a good steward of US taxpayer dollars and should never again receive funding from the US taxpayer,” committee chairman Brad Wenstrup, R-Oh, said in the May 2024 memo.
“Dr. Daszak and his organization conducted dangerous gain-of-function research at the [Wuhan Institute of Virology], willfully violated the terms of a multi-million-dollar NIH grant, and placed US national security at risk. This blatant contempt for the American people is reprehensible.”
The period of debarment for EcoHealth Alliance is set to end on May 14, 2029, and Dr. Daszak’s debarment is set to end six days later on May 20, 2029.
EcoHealth Alliance President Dr. Peter Daszak speaks during a House Select Subcommittee hearing on the Coronavirus Pandemic on Capitol Hill on May 1, 2024 in Washington, DC. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
DISGRACED ECOHEALTH ALLIANCE REAPED NEARLY $100M IN TAXPAYER FUNDS SINCE 2008
It was revealed in May that the disgraced research firm received nearly $100 million from the federal government over the last decade and a half.
From FY 2008 to FY 2024, the US government provided EcoHealth Alliance an estimated $94.3 million in taxpayer funds through contracts, grants, direct payments, loans and other financial assistance, according to a Fox News Digital review of government spending data provided by USAspending.gov.
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A spokesperson for EcoHealth did not respond to a request for comment.
Kyle Morris contributed to this report.
