Vaccine expert says he was fired for opposing drug Trump touted Published on April 23, 2020 at 05:11AM by By RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR, Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The head of a government agency combating the coronavirus pandemic alleged Wednesday that he was ousted for opposing politically connected efforts to promote a malaria drug that President Donald Trump touted without proof as a remedy for COVID-19. Rick Bright, former director of the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, said in a statement that he was summarily removed from his job on Tuesday and reassigned to a lesser role. His lawyers, Debra Katz and Lisa Banks, called it “retaliation plain and simple.” Controversy has swirled around the malaria drug hydroxychloroquine since Trump started promoting it from the podium in the White House briefing room. BARDA, the agency that Bright formerly headed, is a unit of the Department of Health and Human Services created to counter threats from bioterroris