Four families of victims of the Chinese Coronavirus have filed a lawsuit against EcoHealth Alliance, the nonprofit that used taxpayer dollars to fund research in Wuhan, China that ultimately led to the creation of the virus.
As Just The News reports, the lawsuit alleges that EcoHealth and its president, Peter Daszak, were aware that the virus was “capable of causing a worldwide pandemic.” The lawsuit was filed in Manhattan, where EcoHealth is based.
“If we had known the source or origin of this virus and had not been misled that it was from a pangolin in a wet market, and rather we knew that it was a genetically manipulated virus, and that the scientists involved were concealing that from our clients, the outcome could have been very different,” said Patricia Finn, one of the attorneys representing the plaintiffs.
The lawsuit further states that EcoHealth failed to confirm proper security measures were in place at the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV), the controversial laboratory from which the virus originated. Due to partially funding the WIV, the lawsuit additionally claims, EcoHealth actively worked to cover up the truth about the origins of the virus in order to save face.
EcoHealth has already been at the center of allegations that the U.S. government played a role in the virus’ creation, as the nonprofit had been receiving taxpayer-funded grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), some of which subsequently went towards the Wuhan funding. Anthony Fauci, former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), has come under fire for repeatedly claiming under oath that the federal government never provided any funding towards gain-of-function research in Wuhan, only for additional evidence to eventually confirm that there was indeed such government funding.
The four victims whose families are suing EcoHealth are: Larry Carr, of Crossville, Tennessee; Mary Conroy, of Pennsylvania; Emma D. Holley, of Rochester, New York; and Raul Osuna, of Bennington, Nebraska. The families are seeking an unspecified amount in damages from EcoHealth.