Congress Forces NIH to Reverse Policy

Congress influenced the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to reverse a decision concerning funding for the Centers for Research in Emerging Infectious Diseases (CREID), a program initiated by Anthony Fauci in 2020. The reversal has sparked controversy and raised concerns about public safety.

● The NIH previously decided to shut down the CREID program, labeling it unsafe and not a good use of taxpayer money.

● University lobbyists successfully included a mandate in the Congressional appropriations bill requiring the NIH to allocate $18.2 million to fund CREID centers again.

● A senior Health and Human Services (HHS) official expressed anger over this lobbying, arguing it jeopardizes American safety. The official stressed that no funds would be directed toward dangerous research activities linked to pathogens.

● Two researchers linked to the CREID grants are Kristian Andersen and Peter Daszak, the latter of whom is associated with the EcoHealth Alliance. Andersen’s research previously contributed to a paper dismissing the possibility of a Wuhan lab leak, which has faced accusations of being scientifically fraudulent.

● House Republicans have alleged that Fauci played a role in orchestrating the paper that discounted the lab leak theory. Conversely, House Democrats claim that the paper's drafting was led by Jeremy Farrar of the World Health Organization.

● The article notes that the Biden Administration recently debarred Daszak and EcoHealth Alliance from receiving federal funding due to safety concerns surrounding their research.

● Reactions include a demand from the group BioSafety Now for retraction of Andersen’s paper, labeling it scientific misconduct.

● As part of future research funding, the White House is finalizing a plan to assess the risks of pathogen research, with consequences for scientists who do not disclose dangerous research activities.

The funding directive from Congress for the CREID program highlights the conflict between political lobbying, research funding, and public health safety, raising critical questions about the implications for future research on infectious diseases.

https://brownstone.org/articles/congress-forces-nih-to-reverse-policy/