Top Medical Journal Refuses Cooperation on COVID Inquiry
The Lancet, one of the world’s leading medical journals, has refused to provide evidence to a US Senate inquiry into the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic. Editor-in-chief Richard Horton said the decision reflected the journal’s unwillingness to take part in a process that, in his view, has been marked by attacks on scientists, including Anthony Fauci.
The investigation is being led by Senator Rand Paul and is examining possible links between the United States and the laboratory in Wuhan where the pandemic first emerged.
The journal had been asked to provide extensive documentation covering the period from 2018 to 2022. Horton said the debate over Wuhan remains politically sensitive and unresolved.
Available evidence has not produced a consensus on the precise origin of the virus. While the World Health Organization (WHO) continues to support the theory of natural transmission, some US intelligence assessments have also left open the possibility of a laboratory leak.