Watchdog sues after agency sits on findings of cloth masks studies
August 16, 2022
(Washington, DC) – Today, the Functional Government Initiative (FGI) announced transparency litigation against the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) seeking records surrounding studies about the efficacy of cloth masks.
In January of this year, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) revealed that their internal studies have shown that wearing cloth masks is not an effective way to prevent the spread of COVID. This revelation came after almost two years of HHS, along with its subsidiaries the CDC and the National Institutes of Health (NIH), recommending the use of cloth masks to stop the spread of COVID-19. During this time, Dr. Anthony Fauci, who leads NIH’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) along with his role as an advisor to the White House, and other government leaders went on regular media tours encouraging mask mandates and dismissing those who questioned whether cloth masks were effective in stopping the spread of COVID-19. They quite possibly continued doing so after having access to the studies.
For more than two years, many Americans were subjected to mask mandates in most public places. Even months after reports were available calling into question the efficacy of cloth masks, numerous school districts across the United States continued to require children, the least susceptible demographic to COVID-19, to wear cloth masks in the classroom with the apparent backing of HHS. Even today, districts such as San Diego Unified require student masking. Americans deserve to know when HHS discovered that cloth masks were ineffective, why the results of these studies were kept from the public, and why HHS continued to recommend cloth masks when the data showed they were largely ineffective.
After this information was reported, FGI began seeking records surrounding internal studies on the efficacy of cloth masks and whether the agencies funded randomized control trials related to masks. While FGI has been willing to work with HHS and its subsidiaries, the agencies have not been forthcoming. The only way to now retrieve these records and make them accessible to the American public is through the courts. FGI has been forced to resort to litigation with HHS, NIH, and NIAID over their ongoing withholding of the requested records.
Peter McGinnis, spokesman for FGI, issued the following statement:
“When the CDC revealed that cloth masks were ineffective, they were stating what the American public already knew for months. Unfortunately, those who publicly questioned the efficacy of cloth masks prior to their announcement were dismissed or branded purveyors of misinformation, and worse by Dr. Fauci and other government officials. The American people deserve to know how long HHS was sitting on this data, if they even reviewed studies before making their recommendations for mandated masks, and why they continued to promote cloth masks after they knew they didn’t work to stop the spread of COVID-19.”
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