COVID victims’ families sue NYC-based EcoHealth for ‘funding, releasing’ virus

The families of four people who died from COVID-19 are suing the Manhattan-based nonprofit that funded coronavirus research in China for “creating” the bug — and “releasing it, either intentionally or accidentally.”

EcoHealth Alliance and its president, Peter Daszak, knew the virus was dangerous and “capable of causing a worldwide pandemic,” according to the Aug. 2 Manhattan Supreme Court lawsuit.

Despite partially-funding the Wuhan Institute of Virology, where the virus originated, EcoHealth failed to make sure critical safety measures were in place — then worked to cover up the origins of the outbreak, they claimed in court papers.

“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,” Patricia Finn, the victims’ attorney, told The Post.

In a June report, the Government Accountability Office said that EcoHealth Alliance — which doles out money given to them by the National Institutes of Health — gave $1,413,720 to the Wuhan Institute of Virology, while a separate investigation found the government may have paid millions in duplicating grants to the Wuhan-based research institutions through EcoHealth.

Overview

Standing, or locus standi, is capacity of a party to bring suit in court.

Standing in State Court

A state’s statutes will determine what constitutes standing in that particular state’s courts. These typically revolve around the requirement that plaintiffs have sustained or will sustain direct injury or harm and that this harm is redressable.

Standing in Federal Court

At the federal level, legal actions cannot be brought simply on the ground that an individual or group is displeased with a government action or law. Federal courts only have constitutional authority to resolve actual disputes (see Case or Controversy).

In Lujan v. Defenders of Wildlife (90-1424), 504 U.S. 555 (1992), the Supreme Court created a three-part test to determine whether a party has standing to sue:

1. The plaintiff must have suffered an “injury in fact,” meaning that the injury is of a legally protected interest which is (a) concrete and particularized and (b) actual or imminent

2. There must be a causal connection between the injury and the conduct brought before the court

3. It must be likely, rather than speculative, that a favorable decision by the court will redress the injury

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