Happy Tuesday and welcome to another edition of Investigative Roundup, collecting some of the best investigative reporting on healthcare each week. This week there's a very popular -- and disturbing -- podcast you should listen to, news of more trouble for Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, and the denouement for a prominent researcher whose reputation was destroyed.
Sex, Drugs, and Botched Spinal Surgeries
This week marks the conclusion of the hit podcast series , medical reporter Laura Beil's examination of the career and botched procedures of Christopher Duntsch, MD.
The plot: Duntsch was a neurosurgeon whose star was on the rise, even as patient injuries and deaths multiplied over an 18-month span. Whether it was from incompetence, negligence, or drug and alcohol use, 32 victims endured procedures that shocked Duntsch's colleagues. For example, he drilled into the muscle of one patient repeatedly; another bled out after a common procedure; his best friend ended up paralyzed after an elective neck operation. Witnesses speak of his affair with an assistant and the elaborate lies he told to patients. What's most shocking is how long it went on before he was stopped.
Even if you already know how, this well-produced and endlessly fascinating podcast series deserves a listen. The production company's gives instructions.
More Problems for Memorial Sloan Kettering
Just days after José Baselga, MD, resigned from Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) for not fully disclosing financial ties with the industry, further investigation by ProPublica and The New York Times reported another ethical problem at the famous cancer center: a questionable deal with an artificial intelligence startup. According to the report, "Memorial Sloan Kettering holds an equity stake in Paige.AI, as does a member of the cancer center's executive board, the chairman of its pathology department, and the head of one of its research laboratories. Three other board members are investors." This partnership means that Paige.AI now has access to 25 million slides and 60 years of research to create diagnostic algorithms.
That is not sitting well with the MSKCC pathologists who did all the foundational work but who will have no share in the profits. And questions have been raised about the rights of MSKCC patients whose tissues will be used for commercial gain without their knowledge.
Toxic Two Ways in Milwaukee
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has a follow-up on its investigation into lead contamination in the city, which has forced the resignation of one official and the firing of another for not only creating a toxic work environment but also for failing to clean children's lead-contaminated homes. place the blame on two staffers in the Department of Health, Lisa Lien and Richard Gaeta. Under their management, not a single home was decontaminated in 2016 or 2017, and the department stopped issuing citations for lead hazards last year.
An investigation also found Lien "harassed, bullied, and created a hostile work environment in general" while heading the lead program. And at least one worker claims that she was "traumatized" by the work conditions under Gaeta Milwaukee's environmental field supervision. The revelations were part of a larger scandal in which officials did little with the city's lead poisoning prevention program, causing former health commissioner Bevan Baker to step down earlier this year.
Turning a Blind Eye
After receiving an injection of "knockoff" TriMoxi (i.e., compounded triamcinolone and moxifloxacin for ophthalmic use) during routine cataract surgery, , and some can't "perceive depth or colors. Others see glare, halos, flashing lights, or darkness. Many are constantly disoriented, plagued with headaches and nausea, unable to drive or work," according to Buzzfeed. Lawsuits have been filed, and more are expected. But who's to blame? The clinic where the procedures took place? Or Guardian Pharmacy Services (not affiliated with the national long-term care Guardian Pharmacy Services, LLC headquartered in Atlanta) where the drug was compounded?
Buzzfeed looks at the larger problem of compounding pharmacies, where, despite legislation passed after the 2012 fungal contamination scandal, oversight remains spotty. As one pharmacist told Buzzfeed, " A few people die here, a few people die there, and nobody knows it's happening across the country."
Fun Food Researcher's Faulty Facts
In yet another case of unethical research methods, a charismatic and well-known eating behavior researcher at Cornell University, after three JAMA journals retracted six of his papers, Mother Jones reported. Previously, by different journals.
Cornell said its investigation "found that Professor Wansink committed academic misconduct in his research and scholarship, including misreporting of research data, problematic statistical techniques, failure to properly document and preserve research results, and inappropriate authorship."