Results tagged “David Polly”

More ripples emanate from Senator Grassley's release of University of Minnesota orthopedist David Polly's records.

The St. Paul Pioneer Press reports:

Back in 2005, Dr. David Polly participated in a review of a new technology in spine surgery by an influential nonprofit group.

After he concluded the work, the University of Minnesota expert submitted a bill for some of his time to Fridley-based Medtronic.

Four years later, leaders of the nonprofit group -- the Bloomington-based Institute for Clinical Systems, or ICSI -- say they wouldn't have let Polly participate in the review had they known about the billing arrangement. Technology reviews by ICSI are supposed to be impartial, they say, and a Medtronic device was among those being evaluated.

"I was shocked," said John Sakowski, the chief operating officer at ICSI, who learned of Polly's bill with the recent release of Polly's records by Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa.

Although surprised, Sakowski said ICSI is not accusing Polly of wrongdoing in the matter. The nonprofit group didn't specifically ask whether the surgeon was billing an interested party for working on the review, and ICSI said the results generated by the group were solid -- even with the apparent conflict of interest.

Medical ethicists say they have questions about how both ICSI and Polly acted during the episode, but they conclude that the moral of the story goes to a much broader point: Disclosure requirements throughout the health care industry have been woefully lacking.

Meantime, there a short but powerful letter to the editor in the StarTribune today that reads:

"As a Medtronic stockholder for over 20 years and a Minnesota taxpayer for 37, I'm not sure which bugs me more: Dr. David Polly for charging Medtronic these huge amounts, Medtronic for paying them or the University of Minnesota for condoning it."

I've often said that we're not having enough of a public discussion about conflicts of interest in health care. Well, the COI conversation is heating up a bit now.

The Star Tribune reveals more details on how University of Minnesota orthopedic surgeon David Polly billed device manufacturer Medtronic for his time.

From the Strib:

• From 2003-7, Polly received $1.2 million from Medtronic for consulting, expenses and honoraria.

By 2007, Polly was paid $4,750 a day, or $594 an hour. The pact has a cap of $400,000 a year, which Polly has not exceeded, and an exclusivity clause that prevents him from engaging in product development for other companies.

• Records indicate that Polly contacted Medtronic officials frequently. In 2006, for example, the year that Polly received his most compensation, $358,588, he billed Medtronic on 233 days -- sometimes multiple times in one day.

He billed to check e-mail, sometimes in 5-minute increments. He also billed to make phone calls; in 2006, there were roughly 125 calls.

On April 30, 2005, he charged the company $750 for 90 minutes of "summarizing thoughts and opportunities" after a medical meeting. And on Feb. 12, 2004, he charged the company $350 to update his consulting log.

The Star Tribune has posted as a pdf file the entire 142-page document that Senator Charles Grassley sent to UMN President Robert Bruininks on the matter, so you can read all the details yourself.

You might find it interesting to read a comment that Dr. Polly wrote on this blog back in January, when I wrote about another conflict of interest story. Polly wrote:

Please Mr. Schwitzer, pursue the whole story and not just the attention grabbing, tabloid headlines. People deserve to know the whole truth, ever (sic) if it sells less well than tabloid journalism.

I'm not selling anything. My blog is free. Not even any advertising attached.

I guess he didn't bill Medtronic for the time he spent commenting on my blog.

The St. Paul Pioneer Press reports:

It's nice work if you can get it: $1,750 to talk shop at dinner; $42 for making a five-minute phone call; $125 to spend 15 minutes on some e-mail.

When your pay rate is $500 an hour, the money adds up.

Welcome to the world of Dr. David Polly, the University of Minnesota spine surgeon who received nearly $1.2 million in consulting fees from medical device giant Medtronic over a five-year period.

Details of Polly's billing records were released this week by Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, as an attachment to a letter to University of Minnesota President Robert Bruininks. The letter raised questions about how the U polices conflicts of interest among doctors.

And on Thursday, Fridley-based Medtronic -- the world's largest maker of products used in spine surgery -- said it was asking some questions, too.

"We are investigating specific charges for which Dr. Polly billed us and determining whether or not they fit our standards and policies, and if newly enhanced standards are required," spokesman Steve Cragle said in a prepared statement.

... Dr. Charles Rosen, a spine surgeon in California who leads a medical ethics group, said he was among those surprised by the details.

"I've not seen anybody bill the way he did," said Rosen, of the University of California-Irvine, who acknowledged that he doesn't do paid consulting work with the device industry.

"In my opinion, it sounds more like an investment banker," he said of the detailed billing. "It doesn't sound like someone in medicine."

From invoices submitted to Medtronic by Dr. Polly:

# Download CDs from meeting, 15 minutes, $125

# Dinner meeting, 240 minutes, $2,000

# E-mail Medtronic employee, five minutes, $49.48

# Conference call, 90 minutes, $890.63

# Teach at scoliosis meeting, 330 minutes, $2,750

The Wall Street Journal reports:

In May 2006, University of Minnesota spine surgeon David Polly urged a Senate committee to fund research into the severe arm, leg and spine injuries suffered by soldiers in Iraq and elsewhere.

Dr. Polly told the committee he was testifying on behalf of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons and referenced his prior work caring for soldiers as a surgeon at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

What Dr. Polly didn't disclose during his testimony was that his trip to Washington was paid for by Medtronic Inc., the big medical-device maker whose bone growth product, called Infuse, has been used to treat soldiers, according to company records.

Dr. Polly and colleagues in Minnesota subsequently received a $466,644 Department of Defense grant for a two-year study beginning in February 2007 to evaluate Infuse in cases where an injury is also infected, according to the university.

Dr. Polly was paid $1.14 million by Medtronic for consulting services from 2004 to 2007.

Details of Dr. Polly's consultant billing were provided by Medtronic to Sen. Charles Grassley, an Iowa Republican who has been scrutinizing the relationship between academics and industry.

A University of Minnesota spokesman said the school was reviewing the information gathered by Sen. Grassley....

A university committee cleared Dr. Polly to work on the government-funded research of Medtronic's Infuse, saying that his "consulting duties for Medtronic appear sufficiently separate from the research he is performing."

Yesterday the Star Tribune reported:

While the university requires physicians to report financial compensation from these business relationships, there is no limit on the amount they can receive. Further, even though Polly received more than $200,000 a year from Medtronic between 2004 and 2007, he was required by the U only to check a box stating he received "in excess of $10,000."

The U's Medical School has approved a new conflict of interest policy that requires more detailed and public disclosure of these relationships, but that document is on hold for the time being.

Disclosure: I served on the committee that drafted the new COI policy for the UMN med school.

Further disclosure: I have no idea what's going on with the document now.