⁍ Two months after the Trump administration awarded $21 million to study whether a common heartburn drug was effective against COVID-19, government health officials raised serious concerns about patient safety and scientific integrity.

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⁍ The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services outlined a long list of concerns in a June 8 letter, concluding there was ‘a high probability’ that the companies doing the research would fail to honor the terms of the deal.

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⁍ Despite the problems, the HHS office spearheading the federal response to the coronavirus crisis has not canceled the contract.

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– Two months after the Trump administration awarded $21 million to study whether a common heartburn drug was effective against COVID-19, government health officials raised serious concerns about patient safety and scientific integrity, according to internal documents obtained by the AP. The US Department of Health and Human Services outlined a long list of concerns in a June 8 letter, concluding there was ‘a high probability’ the companies doing the research would fail to honor the terms of the deal to assess famotidine, the active ingredient in Pepcid, as a coronavirus treatment. The AP reported Thursday that the contract with Florida-based Alchem Laboratories and its subcontractor, Northwell Health in New York, was the subject of ridicule by some government scientists who did not think the Pepcid study merited millions of federal research dollars. The AP reported Thursday that the contract with Alchem Laboratories and its subcontractor, Northwell Health, was the subject of ridicule by some government scientists who did not think the Pepcid study merited millions of federal research dollars. A federal whistleblower, Dr. Rick Bright, cited the contract as a key example of what he called unethical conduct by agency leadership in deciding how to spend taxpayer dollars to combat the coronavirus. Despite the problems, the HHS office spearheading the federal response to the coronavirus crisis has not canceled the contract.