A watchdog group filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit against the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) for allegedly “stonewalling” communications about Dr. Anthony Fauci’s potential vaccine royalties, according to a press release obtained by the Daily Caller.
The Public Health Reform Alliance (PHRA) issued multiple FOIA requests for records concerning any royalties to or from Fauci, the former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease (NIAID), and other National Institutes of Health officials, the press release said.
PHRA sought information to ensure government employees “who test, approve, and in the case of the COVID-19 vaccines, mandate a drug for millions of citizens” are not receiving royalties from the drug’s producer.
“NIH simply doesn’t want to divulge who gets royalties and how much they receive,” the press release argued. (RELATED: Fauci Bemoaned How ‘Freedom Of Speech’ Made It Harder To Censor People Who ‘Demonize’ Him)
The HHS did not respond to the Caller’s request for comment, and the NIH has not yet responded at the time of publication.
I asked, “Can you tell me if anyone on the vaccine approval committees ever received money from the people who make vaccines?”
Fauci : “People who receive royalties are not required to divulge them.” pic.twitter.com/a0YIm2jfvZ
— Senator Rand Paul (@SenRandPaul) June 16, 2022
The NIH faced backlash nearly two decades ago when 916 then-present and former NIH researchers allegedly garnered an average of $9700 in annual royalty payments — and could receive up to $150,000, according to a 2005 report from The Associated Press.
The NIH also obtained more than $325 million in royalties from entities in 31 different countries, according to documents acquired by Open The Books. One of these companies is operated by the Chinese government and works with the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV), the documents found.
PHRA issued five separate FOIAs to the NIH and NIAID for communications pertaining to Fauci, the lawsuit noted.
“There is significant public interest in understanding potential conflicts of interest involving royalty payments to NIH scientists for their contributions to scientific research and developments,” the FOIAs stated.
The FOIAs requested emails, text messages, calendar entries, logs from phone calls and chat and meeting records. However, the HHS did not send a “final response” to the group’s requests and allegedly violated FOIA’s “timeliness requirements,” the lawsuit claimed. (RELATED: EXCLUSIVE: New Docs Reveal Biden Admin Knew Fauci’s Agency Lied To Cover Up Dog Torture Experiments)
Fauci refused to answer Dr Paul’s question about if he received Pharma royalties from companies he oversees funding for.
So the answer is almost certainly yes, Fauci did get kickbacks for moving funding to companies that paid him on the side.
— Jordan Schachtel @ dossier.today (@JordanSchachtel) June 16, 2022
Republican Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul introduced the Royalty Transparency Act in January, which mandates that certain government employees (including those on public health advisory committees) file reports to include information on any royalties received.
“Given the nosedive of taxpayers’ trust in the public health bureaucracy, you’d think NIH would be doing everything it could to show good faith,” PHRA Director Martin Hoyt stated in the press release. “This disdain for oversight and transparency has been embodied by Dr. Fauci, but it’s clearly endemic to this agency. Sen. Paul’s bill can’t become law too quickly.”
Paul previously sparred with Fauci and demanded answers on whether the people on FDA vaccine committees received royalties from pharmaceutical companies.
“The royalties question represents a big part of what’s wrong with the public health bureaucracy,” Hoyt said in a statement to the Caller. “The pandemic revealed HHS’s institutional arrogance and disdain for transparency, and this decades-long evasiveness on royalties does nothing to restore trust.” (RELATED: ‘Nothing About Trying To Do Better’: Fauci Expresses Shock Over ‘Level Of Vitriol’ During Hearing)
BREAKING: Moderna CEO tells Sen. Rand Paul that they paid the NIH $400M in royalties last year. pic.twitter.com/wNgCuMEh9O
— Te𝕏asLindsay™ (@TexasLindsay_) March 22, 2023
Fauci was one of the highest paid employees in 2019, according to data from Forbes. Additionally, he received $15 million dollars in taxpayer funds for a private security detail, according to FOIA documents obtained by Open The Books and independent journalist Jordan Schachtel.
Fauci also came under fire for funding cruel animal experiments with taxpayer dollars, documents show.
“Senator Paul’s bill is a much-needed step toward accountability moving forward, but PHRA and others must continue to examine HHS’s pandemic response in the hope of never repeating its mistakes,” Hoyt told the Caller.