CLAIM: A White House press release says that Dr. Monica Bertagnolli, President Joe Biden’s pick to lead the National Institutes of Health, received tens of millions of dollars in research money from Pfizer.
AP’S ASSESSMENT: False. The image circulating online has been manipulated; the official announcement didn’t include the funding statistics. Additionally, while Pfizer awarded grants to a nonprofit that Dr. Monica Bertagnolli headed up, the money did not go directly to her. The Biden administration, Bertagnolli and the nonprofit have confirmed the funding was largely used to support a major breast cancer clinical trial.
THE FACTS: Social media users are sharing a misleading image to suggest Biden’s pick to lead one of the world’s leading biomedical research agencies has concerning ties to the pharmaceutical industry.
The screenshot purports to show a snippet of the official announcement of Bertagnolli’s nomination. It includes the same headline and letterhead as Monday’s news release from the White House, but then goes on to say: “From 2015 through 2021, Bertagnolli received more than 116 grants from Pfizer, totaling $290.8 million. This amount made up 89% of all her research grants.”
“So basically Joe Biden’s nominating Pfizer to run the National Institutes of Health,” wrote one Twitter user who shared the screenshot. “This is open, evil Big Pharma corruption. The science will be what Pfizer wants it to be.”
But the passage referencing the Pfizer money was not included...
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