A U.S. senator from Iowa is investigating whether a University of Wisconsin researcher who has received $19.3 million in royalties from a major medical device provider has told his patients of a possible conflict of interest.
In a letter (PDF) to UW System President Kevin Reilly, Iowa Republican Sen. Charles Grassley requested disclosure of how many times the Wisconsin physician implanted devices he invented and whether patients were informed of his ties with Medtronic, a Minneapolis-based medical device provider.
Thomas Zdeblick, chair of the Department of Orthopedics and Rehabilitation, received in 2007 more than $2.6 million from Medtronic for the products he has invented in the last 15 years working for the company, and more than $19.3 million over the last five years.
Unlike most research institutions in the United States, UW policy states that faculty and staff own their intellectual property unless there are federal dollars funding their research.
Zdeblick is required to report if he exceeds $20,000 from outside contributions, but is not obligated to disclose the exact amount or share any of that money with the university because his research is privately funded.
Carl Gulbrandsen, managing director of the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation, said a newer policy was implemented about seven years ago requiring researchers to inform the university of any projects they work on. If WARF is interested in the research, the researcher is offered the option of having the foundation deal with patents and product development.
Since the policy was put in place after Zdeblick began developing products for Medtronic and he chose to not have WARF involved in the process, he has no ties or obligations to disclose his income.
“The university certainly permits faculty to have consulting arrangements,” Gulbrandsen said. “In that case, the university doesn’t have any ties to it.”
According to the senator’s letter, Zdeblick received in 2007: $144,158 for the artificial disc Maverick; $76,518 for the Z Plate System; $654,065 for the Premier Anterior Cervical Plate System; $1,402,964 for the Novus LT Cage; $237,652 for the Vantage Anterior Fixation System; and $92,979 for the Prestige Disc.
“As I’m sure you can understand, this amount greatly exceeds $20,000 and I am concerned that Wisconsin’s reporting requirements do not go far enough to fully capture a physician’s potential conflict of interest,” wrote Grassley, a ranking member of the U.S. Senate Finance Committee.
Medtronic spokesperson Marybeth Thorsgaard said Zdeblick receives no royalties for implants he performs on patients.
Still, Grassley wants to know if patients were informed of the physician’s connection with Medtronic and requested copies of disclosure forms presented to them.
According to Thorsgaard, the Wisconsin physician is listed as an inventor on 25 issued national patents and 41 patents issued outside the country. He also has seven pending U.S. patent applications and 20 pending applications outside the country.
UW System spokesperson David Giroux said it is unclear why the letter was addressed to Reilly. The system president has asked UW-Madison Chancellor Biddy Martin and Medical School Dean Robert Golden to respond to the Iowa senator, who requested action from the university by Jan. 26.
Zdebick did not return phone calls and an e-mail seeking comment Wednesday.
