George's Higher Ed Med Shed

"Good Ol' Boys" and a Disgraced Researcher in Florida

So Texas isn't the only state with a pack a good ol' boys.

Why You Should Care About the University of Miami NIH Scandal « SpeakEasy

Some say the incident in which the director of the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) assured the University of Miami’s medical school dean if he hired Charles Nemeroff, MD the disgraced researcher, Nemeroff could still pull in government grants is an example of the Old Boy’s Network.

NIMH director Thomas Insel, MD assured Pascal Goldschmidt, MD, UM’s medical school dean that Nemeroff ’s Congressional investigation for unreported drug industry income and NIH’s termination of his $9 million grant shouldn’t stop the government funding spigot – even as Insel personally revised NIMH’s “conflict of interest” rules.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Tom Insel faces scrutiny (leftbrainrightbrain.co.uk)
• Another Conflict Brouhaha for NIH (blogs.nature.com)
• Uh Oh! Thomas Insel gets pulled into Nemeroff's World (carlatpsychiatry.blogspot.com)
• Nemeroff - the gift that keeps on giving (medcitynews.com)
• Uf a Bit Too Quick on Denial of Grant Misconduct (reamy.typepad.com)

UT Southwestern's President Podolsky up for Re-Election for GlaxoSmithKline Board

Image via Wikipedia

If it were me, I think I'd be shedding GSK about now, what with all the negative attention it has gotten of late.  Click on the highlighted text to see the voting form to re-elect a number of people to the GSK board, including University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center President Daniel Podolsky.  Dr. Podolsky's GlaxoSmithKline bio may be viewed by clicking here. 

Related articles by Zemanta

• a Litigious Look at Glaxosmithkline and Its Methods (reamy.typepad.com)
• GSK warns consumers against denture adhesive risks (newstatesman.com)
• UT Southwestern and Parkland Hospital Stories: UT Southwestern and Parkland, Unsupervised Surgery? Sure, how else are residents going to learn? (reamy.typepad.com)
• "Psychs on the Take" (reamy.typepad.com)
• Harvard-Affiliated Hospitals Cap Outside Pay to Top Officials (nytimes.com)
• GSK Avandia diabetes drug: 90% supporters had ties to GSK: COI, Conflict of Interest (bipolarsoupkitchen-stephany.blogspot.com)

AUTISM VACCINE SCANDAL: QUICKSILVER MAY NOT BE SO SWIFT AFTER ALL

Dr. Poul Thorsen, the fellow whose "research" claimed that injecting kids with mercury was just fine is on the lam with $2 million.  I imagine the CDC wishes it could hide out somewhere, too, about now.  As the article in the Huffington Post points out, things were getting a little too cozy between Thorsen and his cronies and the CDC.  Please see "Robert F. Kennedy Jr.: Central Figure in CDC Vaccine Cover-Up Absconds with $2M."  An excerpt:

His study has long been criticized as fraudulent since it failed to disclose that the increase was an artifact of new mandates requiring, for the first time, that autism cases be reported on the national registry. This new law and the opening of a clinic dedicated to autism treatment in Copenhagen accounted for the sudden rise in reported cases rather than, as Thorsen seemed to suggest, the removal of mercury from vaccines. Despite this obvious chicanery, CDC has long touted the study as the principal proof that mercury-laced vaccines are safe for infants and young children.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Vaccine court finds no link to autism (cnn.com)
• 3 Rulings Find No Link to Vaccines and Autism (nytimes.com)
• Court Says Vaccines Don't Cause Autism (abcnews.go.com)

UF A BIT TOO QUICK ON DENIAL OF GRANT MISCONDUCT

Image via Wikipedia

In my work as a grievance rep, I heard from medical faculty all the time about how their grants were being misappropriated, double-dipped, and otherwise sucked dry.  This case isn't worth millions of dollars, but it nonetheless is instructive.  Note the knee-jerk denial reaction endemic in higher education nowadays.  See "Audit: UF Charges to Grant Were Improper" on the Gainesville Sun's website.  An excerpt:

Though the University of Florida reported recently it had found no merit to allegations made by a former doctoral student who sued two College of Medicine professors, an audit report from 2008 concluded otherwise, finding one professor improperly charged tens of thousands of dollars to federal research grants for HIV studies.

The lawsuit - filed against Maureen Goodenow, Wayne McCormack and UF's Board of Trustees - was dismissed on Feb. 16 after UF settled out of court, agreeing to pay Christina Gavegnano and her attorney $35,000.

In its original statement from Melanie Ross, a spokeswoman for UF's Health Science Center, the university denied any wrongdoing.

As the story above points out, NIH may still look into this case.  Since UF's auditors, who, after all, work for UF administration, were involved in drawing these conclusions, an NIH investigation may prove much harsher.  This tale may not be told yet. 

Related articles by Zemanta

• Lawsuit against the University of Florida dismissed after it agrees to pay $35,000 to former medicine student Christina Gavegnano | Gainesville.com (reamy.typepad.com)
• UFlorida Graduate Student SHOT By Campus Police (huffingtonpost.com)
• New health sciences school receives federal grant (seattletimes.nwsource.com)

HUTCHISON STATEMENT ON RENEWED VA GULF WAR SYNDROME COMMITMENT

UT Southwestern gets honorable mention in Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison's press release concerning the VA's re-commitment to researching and treating Gulf War Syndrome:

“It is also a vindication for the medical researchers at UT Southwestern and elsewhere who have worked tirelessly to identify the connection between the exposure to chemicals and toxins our servicemen and women may have experienced during the first Gulf War and the symptoms and illnesses these veterans suffer from today.

It would be nice, amid all this hoopla, for UT Southwestern to get its funding back from the VA.  I'm not holding my breath. 

Related articles by Zemanta

• Gulf War Syndrome: Do Shinseki's Statements Square With Ut Southwestern's Exclusion? (reamy.typepad.com)
• VA to Reconsider Benefits for Ill Gulf War Vets (usnews.com)

GULF WAR SYNDROME: DO SHINSEKI'S STATEMENTS SQUARE WITH UT SOUTHWESTERN'S EXCLUSION?

Image via Wikipedia

Dallas Morning News opinion writer Jim Mitchelll is absolutely mystified by VA secretary Eric Shinseki's (photo at left) words saying that Gulf War Syndrome will be a focus for that agency and the VA's actions that resulted in shutting down Gulf War Syndrome research at UT Southwestern. Please see "Shinseki's 'New Stand' on Gulf War Illness."  An excerpt:

How this squares with the VA's decision to cut research ties with the UT Southwestern Medical Center is beyond me. Yes, it's good to remove red tape, but shouldn't we also be interested in what might have happened to these guys on the battlefield, which was a focus of the UTSW study. The VA has suggested that it will pursue answers, just not with UTSW.

For background information, readers may went to see the 8/27/09 Dallas Morning News story titled "VA Ends Contract with UT Southwestern on Gulf War Illnesses." 

Related articles by Zemanta

• VA to Reconsider Benefits for Ill Gulf War Vets (usnews.com)
• VA to reopen Gulf War vets' files (msnbc.msn.com)
• Interview of UTSW's Billing Compliance Director (reamy.typepad.com)

"PSYCHS ON THE TAKE"

Dr. Brad Weeks runs an informative blog on various medical issues.  He's gathered a list of questionable ethical activity on the part of a number of psychiatrists and titled it "Psychs on the Take." It's an interesting read with links to the sources of his information.  Docs in various states are represented in his article.  At first, I thought Texas would go unrepresented, but toward the bottom of the page, UTMB's Karen Wagner makes an appearance.  An excerpt:

Psychiatrist Karen Wagner – Texas

http://tinyurl.com/dallas-wagner

GlaxoSmithKline paid Wagner, who is the director of child and adolescent psychiatry at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, more than $160,000 between 2000 and 2005. She reported just $600…

As regular readers of this blog are aware, Dr. Daniel Podolsky, President of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas reported in April 2009 that he was still on the board of GlaxoSmithKline.  At one time, he got $191,000/year for his services.  He, of course, properly reported his connections to GlaxoSmithKline, or we wouldn't have this information. 

Related articles by Zemanta

• Ut Southwestern V. Dr. Larry M. Gentilello (reamy.typepad.com)
• Ut Southwestern Administrator Compensation and Raises (reamy.typepad.com)