Archive for the ‘Investigations’ Category

The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is conducting an investigation into a top orthopedic surgeon and associate professor at its medical school for failing to disclose financial connections to several companies whose products he was researching. Dr. Jeffrey Wang lost his position as the co-executive director of the UCLA Comprehensive Spine Center for failing to report stock options, payments, and royalties he received from five medical device and drug companies between 2002 and 2008. While Wang is still on the school’s faculty, UCLA is investigating his work and considering further disciplinary action against him.

Dr. Wang failed to disclose ownership of stock options in Facet Solutions Inc. and Paradigm Spine LLC, and did not report royalties and consulting payments from Johnson & Johnson, FzioMed Inc., and Medtronic Inc., all of which manufacture products on which Dr. Wang was conducting research. Failing to report such financial relationships violates UCLA’s guidelines, and most medical schools have rules limiting how much money and gifts their doctors can receive from drug and device companies. The university is currently looking into whether the payments and stock interests impacted Wang’s research.

Medtronic has previously been scrutinized for allegedly having financial relationships with doctors conducting research on its products. The Department of Justice is currently investigating consulting payments made by the medical device company to Dr. Timothy Kuklo, a former Walter Reed Army Hospital surgeon who has been accused of falsifying the results of a study concerning Medtronic’s Infuse surgical grafts. As a result of incidents like those involving Wang and Kuklo, Senators Charles Grassley (R, Iowa) and Herb Kohl (D, Wisconsin) have proposed a federal law requiring companies to disclose all payments over $100 made to doctors. Information about abuses of University policy and illegal or improper kickbacks are often brought to light by whistleblowers. Read more about issues related to medical research, such as defective medical devices and medical malpractice.

The United States Justice Department has served Medtronic with a subpoena, requesting information about the company’s ties to Dr. Timothy Kuklo, a former orthopedic surgeon at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. In a June 23 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Medtronic revealed that it had received the subpoena from the U.S. Attorney in Boston on May 21. The Justice Department is interested in the company’s dealings with and financial ties to Kuklo.

The Army has accused Kuklo, who worked at Walter Reed until 2006, of manipulating data in a study about the effectiveness of Medtronic Infuse bone growth products in treating leg injuries in soldiers. Kuklo has also been accused of forging the signatures of several Walter Reed colleagues when submitting the study results to medical journals for publication. Recently, Medtronic revealed that it paid Kuklo a total of about $800,000 in consulting fees, mostly over the past three years. Although the company learned about the allegations against Kuklo at the end of last year, it did not formally suspend his consulting contract until the New York Times published an article on the ongoing Army investigation in May. Along with the Army and the Justice Department, Senator Charles E. Grassley is also investigating whether Medtronic violated federal rules by promoting Infuse for unapproved uses.

There have been recent reports that bisphenol A (“BPA”), a chemical used to harden plastics and found in hundreds of household products, may cause serious health problems. Now Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal has initiated an investigation into a planned marketing campaign to promote BPA by packaging, food, and beverage manufacturers.

At a recent meeting of major companies like Alcoa, Del Monte Foods, and The Coca-Cola Company, industry executives discussed tactics for reducing public concerns about the side effects of BPA. According to industry meeting notes obtained by The Washington Post, industry executives were especially concerned about the opinions of young mothers, who are likely to be focused on health concerns and often make purchasing decisions for their households. Representatives discussed a range of approaches, including using fear tactics, to convince consumers to opt for packaging that uses BPA. The notes also say that the ideal spokesperson for such a public relations campaign would be a “pregnant young mother who would be willing to speak around the country about the benefits of BPA.”

Blumenthal wrote a letter to the companies involved in the meeting and their trade associations, asking them to provide details about the planned BPA campaign. He also expressed concern that the companies planned on using misleading advertising to influence consumers and legislators about BPA, and hinted that such tactics might cause legal problems for the companies. Blumenthal previously led efforts to curb the use of BPA, which led to a Connecticut law restricting the use of BPA. Minnesota, Chicago, and New York’s Suffolk County have passed similar laws, and legislation restricting the use of BPA is under consideration in other states. BPA has been linked to cancer, heart disease, diabetes, and birth defects, and may be especially harmful to children’s health. Read more about other potentially dangerous products.

Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal announced an investigation into recent changes made by Craigslist to its erotic services section.  Following a murder and assault in Boston committed by a perpetrator looking for victims in the erotic services section, Craigslist, an online classified ad website, vowed to eliminate its erotic services section, and open an “adult services” section that would be closely monitored for pornography and potentially dangerous behavior.

Blumenthal, who had previously led a multistate effort with the assistance of 39 other states to deter prostitution ads on Craigslist, vowed continued vigilance over adult listings.  “We will be monitoring closely to make sure that this measure is more than a name change from erotic to adult and that the manual blocking is tough and effective to scrub prostitution and pornography. Our continuing investigation will assure that these steps are substance, not just spin, and that Craigslist really shuts down its open online red light district,” Blumenthal said.

In response to the initial multistate investigation in 2008, Craigslist vowed to assist the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children to identify missing persons and block inappropriate image uploads.  Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Delaware, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New Jersey, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming joined Connecticut in the initial coalition to reform Craigslist.  However, following the Boston killing, Blumenthal pressured the website further, believing that Craigslist’s lax monitoring could have contributed to the killing.

Phillip Markoff, a Boston University medical student, is currently being held without bail while awaiting trial for the murder of Julissa Brisman, a masseuse from New York City who advertised on the site.  It is alleged that Markoff found Brisman on Craigslist, shot and robbed her, and kept her personal belongings as souvenirs.