Her critics become more and more shrill as Karen Wagner’s deception generates outrage; yet Wagner, like the university that employs her, remains absolutely silent.
The University of Texas has issued a few We don’t know shit but uh when we get a chance we’ll look into it statements in response to Senator Charles Grassley’s repeated letters to it about the vice-chair of the psychiatry department’s way-lucrative, hidden conflicts of interest, and of course the campus can’t be happy that Grassley just reported her to the Health and Human Services inspector general.
In his latest letter, the Iowa Republican says that the amount Wagner didn’t report may be as high as $230,000. The university’s counsel told the Dallas Morning News last week that it has been investigating Wagner for two weeks -– though it got the first letter on the issue eight months ago.
But hey. If you were an office of sponsored research guy, and you had a choice between going to a football game and staring at a big ol’ Adzillatron, and shuffling through disclosure papers from Wagner in which she makes a fool of you to the tune of hundreds of thousands of dollars, what would you do?
That Texas Adzillatron — the world’s largest — has UD thinking. What if, during major athletic contests, with the whole nation watching, the university were to pause the stream of ads for a few moments and flash the names of its professors who’ve lied about outside income? You know – list their names, departments, and the amount of money they didn’t tell anybody about over, say, the last ten years. Also any sanctions imposed. If UT takes disclosure seriously, this would be real disclosure. It would also embarrass Wagner and others, thereby discouraging fellow professors of psychiatry from following their path.
May 15th, 2009 at 12:19PM
It looks like Dr. Wagner at UTMB (University of Texas Medical Branch) – which is in Galveston. No football stadium, no Adzillatron. In fact not much left of UTMB after Hurricane Ike: http://www.examiner.com/x-6928-Houston-Page-One-Examiner~y2009m4d30-Audit-reveals-bottom-line-of-Hurricane-Ike-losses-for-UTMB-hospitals and http://www.dailytexanonline.com/opinion/viewpoint-mercy-for-utmb-1.1729638
May 15th, 2009 at 12:51PM
Yes, I should have specified Galveston. But it’s part of the same UT system, and shares in the glory, expense, and use of the Adzillatron.
May 19th, 2009 at 12:07PM
Dr. Soltan,
First, disclosure: I am on the verge of graduating from UTMB with a Ph.D in ethics & medical humanities, so my affiliation most assuredly colors my views.
Second, some of my academic work involves COIs in research and medicine.
But I do think it is important to understand a bit more of the local context re UTMB. UTMB is indeed part of the UT system, but to assert that it shares in the Adzillatron and what that represents is something of an error or at least an oversimplification. Some knowledge of Texas politics is required in order to explain why. UTMB may "share" in the Adzillatron, but its share is pitiful compared to the two flagship institutions, UT-Austin, and Texas A&M. These two are both extremely wealthy institutions, with literally every other UT scrabbling for scraps. UTMB itself is near the bottom of this heap, since their very charter declares that the mission of the school is expressly to provide indigent care.
There is a perception that the regents have grown tired of this mission, such that the funds allocated to UTMB to provide indigent care have consistently crept lower. The regents very nearly ended the school’s clinical operations "due" to damage caused by Hurricane Ike. Only a well-positioned and powerful representative in the Texas Capitol prevented this from occurring.
None of this is to offer any opinion on the events surrounding Dr. Wagner. But it is inaccurate to argue that because UTMB is part of the UT system, it shares equally in the Adzillatron culture. UTMB has historically lacked the funds to even fulfill its charter; wealthy donors and endowments do not generally come UTMB’s way.
May 19th, 2009 at 1:17PM
Daniel: I’m very grateful for the local context that you’ve provided, and I take your point that UTMB is a very different creature. I will, assuming it’s okay with you, put your remarks into a new post, so that all of my readers can see what you’re talking about.
UD