Federal agencies under Dr. Anthony Fauci’s leadership received hundreds of millions in pharmaceutical royalties over the coronavirus pandemic.
According to an investigation by the nonprofit government watchdog Open the Books, pharmaceutical and health care companies paid more than $710 million to the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The National Institute of Allergies and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), which Fauci led from 1984 to 2022, received more than $690 million, or 97 percent, of the total $710 million. The payments to NIAID, the group reported, represent a two-year average that is 175 times higher than the average of less than $5 million reported over the previous decade.
“NIH and N[I]AID wasted countless taxpayer dollars illegally resisting the requirement to tell taxpayers what was happening with their tax dollars,” Open the Books reported. “That’s because in [each of] the next two years — 2022 and 2023 — Fauci’s institute collected the equivalent of 175 years in NIAID royalty payments. Nearly $690 million in just two years vs. $23.9 million over 12 years.”
Fauci’s deputies in the NIH have come under recent congressional investigation for efforts to escape accountability under federal transparency laws through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). Last month, NIH Senior Advisor Dr. David Morens laughed off lawmakers’ questions related to exchanges referencing a “‘secret’ back channel” to communicate with Dr. Fauci. According to a memo released by the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic, new documents suggest Morens inappropriately deleted records, colluded with government officials to evade transparency
