Did A U.S. Nonprofit Loose Covid-19?
When the shit hits the fan, every nonprofit involved better have good records. That is the lesson from HHS’ debarment of EcoHealth, an exempt research organization, from further NIH funding. Bad record keeping suggests EcoHealth might have had something to do with Covid-19. I bet nonprofits aren’t often sanctioned for not knowing exactly how its assets are spent by third party grantees in pursuit of a charitable purpose. But this case proves again why record-keeping is so important. Failure to keep good records implies guilt.
There is, apparently, a consensus that Covid-19 first jumped to humans from somewhere in Wuhan, China. There is still disagreement as to whether the virus resulted from an experiment gone wrong or from an exotic animal or animal carcass sold at a Wuhan open-air market:
All eyes were on the WHO, the leading international public health agency, to probe covid-19’s origins. The team’s mission was to examine when and where the outbreak had started and how the new virus crossed over to humans. The report, which was released last March, concluded it was “extremely unlikely” that covid-19 could have been caused by a lab accident. The situation the team ranked most likely was that it had jumped from bats to humans via some intermediary animal. Their results, supported by research published in peer-reviewed journals and by ongoing studies, suggest that the pandemic probably started at the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market in central Wuhan, where live mammals were sold and where most of the early covid-19 cases emerged.
The article is referring to Wuhan Institute of Virology when it discusses the possibility the virus escaped from a lab. A renowned Chinese virologist continues to assert, even in academic settings and with data to back her up, that the virus did not come from her lab. A House majority report says the virus most likely escaped from that very same lab, and a House minority report claims the Majority report is partisan and demonizes nonprofit scientific research.
We may never know, but that has not stopped Health & Human Services from debarring a scientific research nonprofit that funded research at WIV. Starting in 2014, EcoHealth received NIH grants and shared them with the Wuhan Institute of Virology as that lab pursued research into bat viruses. HHS doesn’t say whether the virus jumped from an animal to humans via WIV, but it concludes that EcoHealth failed to monitor NIH grant funds spent at WIV.
We blogged about HHS temporarily suspending EcoHealth last year. This week, HHS extended the debarment for five years. Essentially, HHS found that EcoHealth failed to exercise expenditure authority over NIH grant funds used to fund research at WIV. Here is an excerpt from the findings:
Based on the information presented in the administrative record and the aggravating and mitigating factors set forth in this document, including EHA’s aforementioned responses to the suspension and proposed debarment actions, I have determined that a five-year debarment period for EHA is necessary to protect the United States Federal Government’s interests. I acknowledge and understand that debarment is an administrative remedy that is serious in nature and is not an action to be taken lightly. However, given the seriousness of the misconduct, as presented in the administrative record, the Federal Government’s interests must be protected accordingly. In making this determination, I reviewed the totality of the information in the administrative record, including all information submitted by EHA in response to the suspension and debarment actions, and determined that EHA has not demonstrated, to my satisfaction, that it is presently responsible to be a steward of federal funds. Therefore, I have determined that a debarment period is necessary to protect the Federal Government’s interests.
Every associated nonprofit must be able to prove that it had no part in it when things get smelly.
darryll k. jones