Hi Furl
Here’s a March 10, 2010 news report from the Associated Press on this case:

MEDTRONIC DISCLOSES US ATTORNEY’S PROBE IN MASSACHUSETTS

WASHINGTON: Medical device maker Medtronic says federal prosecutors are investigating its relationship with cardiologists at a hospital in Massachusetts.

In regulatory filings with the government, Medtronic said it has been asked to hand over documents to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts. The attorneys are seeking information about Medtronic’s CoreValve division and its relationship with heart specialists at the Lahey Clinic in Burlington, Mass. It did not provide further details of the probe.

The clinic is a teaching hospital affiliated with the Tufts University School of Medicine.

Minneapolis-based Medtronic says it will cooperate with the government. It disclosed the investigation in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.”

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Cecilia, one might almost think you were a plant supported by the hospital to try to discredit the good doctor wherever possible. Nice try…….

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Anon, I can understand your reluctance to come forward with your concerns about your own hospital, but if every potential whistle blower at every hospital where such wrongdoing was occurring were a “coward” (as you describe yourself), it is exactly like giving the crooks carte blanche to do whatever they need to do to make more money thanks to those who stand by and do nothing.

By the time you retire and write your “Tell All” memoirs, it may be too late. Just a thought.

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This industry-medicine link is so pervasive that many don’t seem to ‘get it’. They try to just dismiss any criticisms of the practice by attacking the messenger.

Interesting that the hospital newsletter you mentioned seemed pretty darned flattering!

Thank you for this – great info and great writing.

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RE previous comment: Unless you have access to this person’s private personnel files at Lahey, why would you spread rumors that are irrelevant to the issue? I’ll be following this case carefully to see if the courts agree with the cardiologist’s claim or not.

It takes a brave (or foolhardy) soul to stand up to a big corporation that is so entrenched in the hospital culture, especially when many of his peers are likely on the take as well, so are very UNlikely to support him at all. I admire him. I’ve seen this practice myself in my own hospital but I’m too much of a coward to rock the boat, jeapardize my research funding, etc. I need this job, especially in this U.S. economy, and just try to keep my eye on the prize – retirement in only 2 years if I can hang on. Maybe then I’ll write a book about what I’ve seen in inappropriate corporate interference.

Please don’t use my name or contact info, for obvious reasons.

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