Report: NIH Threw EcoHealth Alliance Millions Of Tax Dollars To Study Coronaviruses, Then Didn’t Supervise

The National Institutes of Health, (NIH), did not provide proper oversight to EcoHealth Alliance after it gave the organization millions of bucks to study bat coronaviruses. 72-page report Source: Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Inspection General

More than a year and a half after the OIG announced an investigation into the NIH’s funding of the Wuhan lab suspected of playing a role in the Covid-19 pandemic outbreak, the inspector general officially announced that NIH and EcoHealth Alliance failed to comply with federal research and reporting standards. The inspector general failed to ensure adequate oversight of the U.S. funding and whether it was legal and safe.

As such, the report didn’t directly address whether EcoHealth Alliance was involved in dangerous and illegal gain-of function research. legislators and documents have alleged, But it was also noted that the NIH failed to report to the Department of Health and Human Services questionsable enhanced potential panademic pathogens.

After EcoHealth Alliance failed to submit a mandatory report on its research progress the fall before the global Covid-19 outbreak, the NIH did not mention the report’s tardiness until nearly two years later in July 2021. This was a violation of HHS requirements that the NIH must follow-up with grant recipients. “no later than 30 days after the established due date.”

“This oversight failure is particularly concerning because NIH had previously raised concerns with EcoHealth about the nature of the research being performed,” the inspector general’s report states.

EcoHealth Alliance was funded by taxpayers for dangerous research on pathogens such as coronaviruses. This has been going on for over a decade. EcoHealth Alliance used at least a portion of its grant money. $1.1 million Between October 2009 and May 2019, you can use the Wuhan Institute of Virology China.

The NIH tried in April 2020 to stop the money flow from EcoHealth Alliance towards the Wuhan Institute of Virology, (WIV), over concerns that the lab might be closing. “may have been involved with the release of the coronavirus responsible for COVID-19.” The NIH restored the grant it had previously cut under the condition that EcoHealth Alliance made sure the WIV was fixed by July 2020. “facilities in China that posed serious biosafety concerns and, as a result, created health and welfare threats to the public in China and other countries.”

The WIV was a sub-recipient of American tax dollars for many years and was therefore subject to the same reporting standards as EcoHealth Alliance. EcoHealth Alliance claimed that the WIV did not provide key documents when it was requested by the NIH for an update on the WIV in November 2021.

“EcoHealth officials confirmed to us that WIV had not been responsive to its request to provide the scientific documentation and indicated it was unlikely to receive the requested information,” In the report, the inspector general made the following statement.

This observation is confirmed previous reporting, which suggested EcoHealth Alliance might have stymied the release lab records to NIH