卫生与公众服务部(HHS)秘书亚历克斯·阿扎尔(Alex Azar)周四驳回了里克·布莱特博士对众议院一个委员会的证词，称他对冠状病毒爆发的担忧得到了整个政府的认同，他的投诉得到了解决。
布莱特在5月份被解除HHS生物医学高级研究发展机构主任职务后，向举报者提出了申诉。他告诉委员会，他向HHS官员表达了对N95口罩和呼吸器等必需品“严重短缺”以及疫苗开发需要“曼哈顿计划”的担忧。但他表示，他的担忧被“驳回”，他被“排除在关于疫情爆发的高层会议之外”。
在白宫登上海军陆战队一号之前，阿扎尔对记者说，“[·布莱特谈论的一切都已经完成了。”卫生部长说，呼吸器是在唐纳德·特朗普总统的指示下采购的，曼哈顿项目是为了疫苗、治疗和诊断而启动的。
阿扎尔补充说，布莱特并不是唯一一个担心个人防护装备和呼吸机数量，以及对治疗和疫苗需求的人。
“他所说的是本届政府的每一个成员和总统所说的，”阿扎尔告诉记者。“这位总统身上的每一项成就，布莱特博士都是团队的一员，他只是在说白宫和HHS的每个人都在说的话。没有一点区别。”
5月14日，唐纳德·特朗普总统和卫生与公众服务部部长亚历克斯·阿扎尔对记者发表讲话。阿扎尔驳回了举报人对政府应对冠状病毒爆发的投诉。
今年2月，当美国的病毒病例低于60例时，特朗普政府要求提供25亿美元资金，用于国内应对疫情。官员们批评该数额不足以开发疫苗、资助检疫措施和获得足够的个人防护设备。
今年2月，阿扎尔在参议院拨款小组委员会听证会上作证说，国家战略储备中有3000万个N95呼吸器，医疗保健工作者需要大约3亿个。今年4月，特朗普与3M达成了一项进口1.665亿口罩的协议，并签署了《国防生产法》，以帮助保障医疗保健工作者的供应。
在周四的证词中，布莱特批评政府没有提前增加产量。他说，官员们在一月份无视他的警告，结果“失去了生命”
“我们已经落后了，”他作证说。“那是我们打开生产以拯救医疗保健工作者生命的最后一扇机会之窗，但我们没有采取行动。”
阿扎尔还批评布莱特“没有去上班”，说他是发起“极速行动”团队的一员，并把他比作“曾在唱诗班，现在试图说他是独唱者”的人
新闻周刊联系了布莱特的律师征求意见，但是在发表之前没有收到回复。
布莱特说，当没有任何证据证明羟氯喹和氯喹的疗效时，他拒绝让政府官员推广羟氯喹和氯喹作为一种治疗方法。特朗普是主张这种待遇的官员之一，在他的举报者投诉中，布莱特表示，他与其他官员的信息分歧导致了他的离职。
阿扎尔反驳了布莱特的说法，指出布莱特要求食品和药物管理局签发氯喹和羟氯喹的紧急使用许可，作为对病毒的治疗。“他的指控站不住脚，”阿扎尔补充道。
HHS SECRETARY DISMISSES WHISTLEBLOWER COMPLAINTS ABOUT CORONAVIRUS RESPONSE, SAYS 'EVERYTHING HE TALKED ABOUT WAS DONE'
Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Alex Azar dismissed Dr. Rick Bright's testimony to a House committee on Thursday, saying that his concerns about the coronavirus outbreak were shared by the entire administration and that his complaints were resolved.
Bright, who filed a whistleblower complaint in May following his removal as director of the HHS' Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Agency, told the committee he expressed concerns to HHS officials about the "critical shortage" in necessary supplies, such as N95 masks and respirators, and the need for a "Manhattan Project" for vaccine development. But he said his concerns were "dismissed" and he was "cut out of high-level meetings" about the outbreak.
Speaking to reporters before boarding Marine One at the White House, Azar said "everything [Bright] talked about was done." Respirators were procured under President Donald Trump's directive, the health secretary said, and a Manhattan Project was initiated for a vaccine, a therapeutic treatment and diagnostics.
Azar added that Bright wasn't alone in having concerns about the amount of personal protective equipment (PPE) and ventilators, as well as the need for a therapeutic and vaccine.
"What he was saying is what every single member of this administration and the president was saying," Azar told reporters. "Every single thing this president was on the president achieved, and Dr. Bright was part of a team and was simply saying what everyone at the White House and the HHS was saying. Not one bit of difference."
President Donald Trump and Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar speak to reporters on May 14. Azar has dismissed claims made in a whistleblower's complaint about the administration's response to the coronavirus outbreak.
In February, when virus cases in the U.S. were below 60, the Trump administration requested $2.5 billion in funding for a domestic response to the outbreak. Officials criticized the amount for being inadequate to develop a vaccine, fund quarantine measures and secure enough PPE.
In February, Azar testified during a Senate Appropriations subcommittee hearing that there were 30 million N95 respirators in the strategic national stockpile and that about 300 million were needed for health care workers. Trump reached a deal with 3M for the importation of 166.5 million respirator masks in April and signed the Defense Production Act to help secure supplies for health care workers.
During his testimony Thursday, Bright criticized the administration for not ramping up production earlier. He said officials ignored his warnings in January and as a result "lives were lost."
"We were already behind the ball," he testified. "That was our last window of opportunity to turn on production to save the lives of our health care workers, and we didn't act."
Azar also criticized Bright for "not showing up for work" to be part of the team launching "Operation Warp Speed" and compared him to someone who "was in a choir and is now trying to say he was a soloist."
Newsweek reached out to Bright's attorneys for comment but did not receive a response before publication.
Bright said he pushed back on administration officials promoting hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine as a treatment when there wasn't any proof of their efficacy. Trump was among the officials advocating for the treatment, and in his whistleblower complaint, Bright said his dissension from other officials' messaging contributed to his termination.
Azar, in refuting Bright's claims, pointed out that Bright asked the Food and Drug Administration to issue an Emergency Use Authorization for chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine as a treatment for the virus. "His allegations do not hold water," Azar added.
