The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has suspended EcoHealth Alliance Inc. and its former president dr. Peter Daszak, officially blocking both the company and the doctor from receiving federal funds for five years. EcoHealth allegedly failed to report the dangerous augmentation experiments to the government, which ultimately led to the shutdown. in notice of exclusion to Daszak, an HHS official wrote that the actions taken were “necessary” to protect the US government’s business interests.
House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., welcomed the exclusion in a statement, calling it “justice for the American people.” Comer then criticized the “bad actor” EcoHealth and “its corrupt former president” for using taxpayer dollars to conduct “dangerous research to increase function 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 the lack of oversight of enhancement research.
Security personnel stand guard outside the Wuhan Institute of Virology in Wuhan as members of the World Health Organization (WHO) team investigating the origin of the COVID-19 coronavirus visited the institute in Wuhan, central China’s Hubei province, on February 3, 2021. (Hector Retamal/AFP via Getty Images)
HHS JOINS ECOHEALTH ALLIANCE PRESIDENT DEBAR FOR FAILURE TO FOLLOW PROCUREMENT PROCEDURES
The subcommittee noted in the report that it found “substantial evidence” that Daszak “repeatedly violated the terms of the NIH grant awarded to EcoHealth.” In light of the findings, the commission ultimately recommended that EcoHealth and Deszak be formally disbarred and barred from “any” federal funding.
In addition, in its audit, the commission accused EcoHealth of failing to submit annual research updates, only to submit them in August 2021, nearly two years after the September 2019 deadline.
Peter Daszak (right), Thea Fischer (left) and other members of the World Health Organization (WHO) team investigating the origin of the COVID-19 coronavirus arrive at the Wuhan Institute of Virology in Wuhan, central China’s Hubei province, in February. 3. 2021. (HECTOR RETAMAL/AFP via Getty Images)
“EcoHealth Alliance President Dr. Peter Daszak is not a good steward of American taxpayer dollars and should never receive American taxpayer funds again,” board Chairman Brad Wenstrup, R-Oh, said in a May 2024 memo.
“Dr. Daszak and his organization have conducted dangerous research into increasing the function of the [Wuhan Institute of Virology]he deliberately violated the terms of a multimillion-dollar NIH grant and threatened US national security. This blatant contempt for the American people is reprehensible.”
The exclusion period for EcoHealth Alliance should end on May 14, 2029, and the exclusion of dr. Daszak is scheduled to end six days later, on May 20, 2029.
President of the EcoHealth Alliance dr. Peter Daszak speaks during a House Subcommittee hearing on the coronavirus pandemic on Capitol Hill on May 1, 2024 in Washington, DC. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
Disgraced ECOHEALTH ALLIANCE COLLECTED NEARLY $100 MILLION IN TAXPAYER FUNDS SINCE 2008.
In May, it was revealed that the disgraced research firm had received nearly $100 million from the federal government over the past decade and a half.
From FY 2008 to FY 2024, the U.S. government provided EcoHealth Alliance with 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 that was published by USAspending.gov.
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A spokesman for EcoHealth did not respond to a request for comment.
Kyle Morris contributed to this report.
