… where the state Medical Practice Board is holding hearings into whether the director of the student health clinic “failed to supervise a physician’s assistant who was improperly prescribing prescription opiate medications to students.”
And dat ain’t all. Try to figure this one out. They’ve had to delay the hearing because a panel member has a conflict of interest. The conflict? This person “had participated in a related hearing involving a UVM health clinic employee that the board also was investigating.”
Since when is participating in a hearing related to the hearing you’re hearing a conflict of interest? And – okay – a second UVM health clinic person is also under investigation… But wait. Actually, the board’s executive director isn’t sure whether the COI “involved the [first employee’s] case or that of a third clinic worker, whose case did not result in the filing of formal charges.”
Got that? If I’m getting the math right, we’re talking about four student health employees who have been or are being investigated: The possibly negligent doctor, a physician’s assistant, and… two others?
Developing…
August 2nd, 2011 at 4:44PM
UD, have you seen this latest?:
http://pogoblog.typepad.com/pogo/2011/08/new-podcast-conflict-zone-increasing-transparency-of-nih-funded-researchers-financial-conflicts-of-i.html
” proposal would bring a much needed dose of transparency to federally funded medical research. Now, one thing stands in its way: the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). POGO is concerned that OMB will weaken or block this proposal, and in July, we sent a letter urging OMB to leave the rule intact.
For this podcast, POGO Staff Scientist Ned Feder and POGO Executive Director Danielle Brian discuss why this proposal is so important. After we recorded this podcast, Nature News reported that the proposal has been dropped. Things aren’t completely final just yet—but if the NIH’s disclosure proposal does wind up on the cutting room floor, it would be a significant blow to transparency and taxpayer interests. “
August 3rd, 2011 at 7:23AM
Opiates?! Until the rise of the meth scourge, our student clinic was famed for dispensing Sudafed for everything from sprained ankles to colds to unintended pregnancies.