EcoHealth Alliance under Fire: Congressional Hearing Reveals Misuse of Taxpayer Funds

The House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic held a hearing on EcoHealth Alliance, a research firm accused of using taxpayer funds to conduct risky gain-of-function research at the Wuhan lab before the COVID-19 pandemic.

EcoHealth Alliance, a research firm at the center of controversy over its involvement in the origins of COVID-19, has come under fire for allegedly misusing taxpayer funds to conduct gain-of-function research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV).

A House Select Subcommittee hearing on the pandemic revealed that EcoHealth Alliance received nearly $100 million from the federal government over the past decade and a half, including millions of dollars in grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to study bat coronaviruses in China.

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) inspector general released a report in January 2023, finding that NIH did not adequately follow its policies and procedures regarding grants to EcoHealth Alliance, totaling about $8 million.

Amidst these revelations, HHS last week implemented a government-wide suspension of all funds allocated to EcoHealth Alliance, citing evidence of willful violations of NIH grant terms.

HHS has further initiated formal debarment proceedings against Dr. Peter Daszak, the president of EcoHealth Alliance. In a letter to Daszak, an HHS official stated that his "immediate suspension... is necessary to protect the public interest."

The action referral memorandum cited EcoHealth's failure to comply with grant procedures and its work with the WIV as reasons for the debarment proposal. A review of EcoHealth's work at the WIV found that it potentially increased viral activity, violating grant terms.

An EcoHealth Alliance spokesperson denied the allegations of gain-of-function research at the WIV. They claimed that the research involved bat coronaviruses that had not previously infected humans and therefore did not qualify as gain-of-function research.

However, Dr. Richard Ebright, a molecular biologist at Rutgers University, estimated that the U.S. government has provided over $50 million to EcoHealth Alliance since the start of the pandemic, much of it earmarked for the same type of research that likely caused the pandemic.

EcoHealth Alliance's work with the WIV has raised concerns due to the lab's involvement in the origins of COVID-19. The WIV has been accused of conducting dangerous research that may have led to the leak of the virus.

The House COVID Select Subcommittee's report included evidence that EcoHealth Alliance violated grant terms by failing to properly report its work at the WIV. The report also raised questions about whether the WIV had conducted gain-of-function research on its own.

The investigation into EcoHealth Alliance's activities continues. The House Select Subcommittee is expected to release a final report on its findings, and the HHS debarment proceedings against Dr. Daszak are ongoing. The full extent of EcoHealth Alliance's involvement in the origins of COVID-19 remains to be determined.