Robert Kadlec

Robert P. Kadlec is an American physician and career officer in the United States Air Force who currently serves as Assistant Secretary of Health and Human Services (Preparedness and Response).

Robert Kadlec
Assistant Secretary of Health and Human Services for Preparedness and Response
Assumed office
August 18, 2017
PresidentDonald Trump
Preceded byGeorge Korch (Acting)
Personal details
Bornapprox. 1957
Political partyRepublican
EducationUnited States Air Force Academy (BS)
Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (MD)
Georgetown University (MS)

Early life

Kadlec graduated with a B.S. from the United States Air Force Academy in 1979, an M.D. from the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in 1983, and an M.A. from Georgetown University in 1989.[1]

Career

Kadlec spent 26 years as a career officer and physician in the United States Air Force. In the White House Homeland Security Council, Kadlec served as Director for Biodefense and Special Assistant to President George W. Bush for Biodefense Policy from 2007 to 2009.[1][2]

Kadlec was serving as Deputy Staff Director for the United States Senate Select Committee on Intelligence when he was nominated by President Donald Trump to become Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR), an office within Health and Human Services.[3] Kadlec was confirmed for this position by the United States Senate on August 3, 2017.[4]

Office of Preparedness and Response

Kadlec said in March 2018 that his office was taking on several efforts to protect the U.S. from "21st century health security threats" such as bio-weapons or chemical weapons. Kadlec said that these threats have continued to rise in the U.S. and abroad.[5]

In September 2019, the Russian State Centre for Research on Virology and Biotechnology—which stores deadly pathogens such as smallpox, Ebola and anthrax—had a gas explosion, which created a potential deadly situation. While none of the lethal pathogens were released during the incident, Kadlec spoke out after the incident, saying, that the potential use of smallpox as a bioweapon means “the virus remains a potential threat to national and global health security.”[6]

In 2019, Kadlec's office provided federal grant funding to UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital for leading a partnership of over 60 agencies within five states to establish a "West Coast Center of Excellence in Pediatric Disaster Care."[7]

In January 2018, Kadlec testified before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee in a hearing investigating public health threats and reauthorization of the Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act (PAHPA). He testified in full support of reauthorizing the PAHPA law.

Whistleblower complaint

On May 5, 2020, Kadlec was implicated in an official whistleblower complaint, of participating in multiple schemes to funnel contracts to politically connected companies, even while subject matter experts at the agency determined such contracts were not meritorious, then retaliating against Rick Bright, his Director of BARDA. It was also alleged that Kadlec ignored repeated warnings in January 2020 about potential shortages of N95 face masks.[8]

When the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services awarded a U.S. biotechnology company, Emergent BioSolutions, a single-source contract for the company's smallpox vaccine at twice the previous price, Kadlec again spoke out about the importance and urgency of stockpiling that particular vaccine, saying, “We do not know whether all samples of the virus, outside of two WHO-designated labs, actually have been found and destroyed; at the same time, synthetic biology for technology continues to advance and in the future could allow smallpox to be created as a bioweapon. For those reasons, the virus remains a potential threat to national and global health security. Having vaccines and treatments at-the-ready will be imperative to saving lives,”[9] Kadlec previously consulted with Emergent BioSolutions and was part owner of company related to its founder, which he did not disclose in his 2017 nomination.[10][11][12]

At the same time, Kadlec focused on counters to bioweapons and reduced spending on infectious diseases, including canceling funding for a machine that would rapidly produce N95 respirators in a just-in-time production, initially developed through Obama-era BARDA funding.[10][13]

Bright stated a terminated contract with Aeolus Pharmaceuticals was the subject of intense lobbying from John Clerici, a lobbyist. Aeolus has ties to Jared Kushner. Clerici is on their board and called Aeolus CEO John McManus "high maintenance", that "he is the kind of person who would write stories about you for the newspapers" for cancelling the contract. Bright goes on to state that Clerici and Kadlec's staff "continued to play an improper and outsized role in several BARDA contracts". An example of that was Kadlec overriding an interagency recommendation on a drug, choosing to go spend $40 million on an inferior alternative from Alvogen, which was a lobbying client of Clerici.[14][15]

Legislation and policy support

In 2019, Kadlec supported passage of the Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness and Advancing Innovation Act (PAHPAIA), writing in July 2019, "PAHPAIA increases the budget authorization and provides ten-year funding for product development. We know next-generation medical countermeasures aren’t developed overnight – in fact, getting a product across the finish line takes many years. Multi-year funding helps BARDA continue building the strong public-private partnerships needed to spur innovation and provide the private sector with the stability needed to produce potentially lifesaving medical countermeasures.".[16][17]

References
  1. "Robert Kadlec, MD, MS". Stanford Medicine. Retrieved 7 August 2017.
  2. "Facing 21st Century Public Health Treats : Our Nation's Preparedness and Response Capabilities, Part 1 Statement of Robert Kadlec, MD, MTM&H, MS Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response" (PDF). Help.senate.gov. Retrieved 15 June 2019.
  3. "President Donald J. Trump Announces Key Additions to his Administration". The White House. July 10, 2017. Retrieved 7 August 2017.
  4. Ault, Alcia (August 3, 2017). "HHS Picks". MedScape. Retrieved 7 August 2017.
  5. Riley, Kim (2018-03-27). "Protecting Americans includes keeping first responders safe, says ASPR's Kadlec". Homeland Preparedness News. Retrieved 2018-03-30.
  6. Riley, Kim (2019-09-24). "ASPR's Kadlec: Smallpox one of many biothreats U.S. must anticipate". Homeland Preparedness News. Retrieved 2019-10-05.
  7. "New Center to Improve Emergency Response for Children Across Five Western States". New Center to Improve Emergency Response for Children Across Five Western States | UC San Francisco. Retrieved 2019-11-12.
  8. "Rick Bright, Former Top Vaccine Scientist, Files Whistleblower Complaint".
  9. Flax, Debra (2019-09-03). "HHS awards 10-year contract to Emergent BioSolutions for smallpox vaccine". Homeland Preparedness News. Retrieved 2019-10-05.
  10. "Before pandemic, Trump's stockpile chief put focus on biodefense. An old client benefited". Washington Post. Retrieved 4 May 2020.
  11. "Robert Kadlec, the Trump administration's top official for addressing biological threats, awarded a $2 billion contract to a company he used to advise".
  12. "Before pandemic, Trump's stockpile chief put focus on biodefense. An old client benefited".
  13. "Federal government spent millions to ramp up mask readiness, but that isn't helping now". Washington Post. Retrieved 4 May 2020.
  14. Legum, Judd. "The ugly truth". popular.info. Retrieved 6 May 2020.
  15. "COMPLAINT OF PROHIBITED PERSONNEL PRACTICE OR OTHER PROHIBITED ACTIVITY" (PDF). kmblegal.com. Retrieved 6 May 2020.
  16. Adrien, Claudia (2019-07-29). "U.S. government clears commercial medical product for use on mustard gas injuries". Homeland Preparedness News. Retrieved 2019-10-05.
  17. Kadlec, Robert (2019-07-17). "Project BioShield Evolution: Fifteen Years of Bridging the 'Valley of Death' in the Medical Countermeasures Pipeline". U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, ASPR Blog. Retrieved 2019-10-05.
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