A Tale of Toxicity

One of these days (most likely in my retirement) I intend to write a book on ethics in medical research. I've definitely seen my share of bad examples! Here's one tale that will leave you at a loss for words (that's my way of explaining "0 comments" beneath this thread):

About five years ago, I was coordinating a study in which a group of patients had been scheduled to come to the Ophthalmology clinic to have photographs taken of their eyes. They were children who all suffered from the same neurological disease that caused them to be blind, or nearly blind. Their parents were all members of a family support group and were very enthusiastic about joining our study, as our results might lead to earlier diagnosis of this particular disease.

I had everything in place for the study and left town for a couple of days to present a seminar in New York City. While I was there, I received a call from the director of the support group. He was panic-stricken. It seems that a jealous colleague had told the support group that if they participated in our study, they would go blind! I was dumbfounded. I had offered this colleague a chance to join us in this study and he had refused. What was the meaning of this sabotage? I paced the hotel room, gently trying to calm the director of the support group. I assured him that our study had been approved by the scientific review panel at the University, that the photographs would taken with a standard piece of equipment, and that there was no concern about potential eye damage from having these photographs taken. After I got off the phone, and for the next few days, I worried about who might show up for our study that week-end. In preparation, I cautioned my research team to be on alert for this jealous colleague and to call the security office if they saw him approach our clinic. Fortunately, all scheduled participants showed up for the study and the jealous colleague did not cause further interference. When later confronted, the jealous colleague denied any involvement in this matter. Yet, I have no other rational explanation for my conversation with the director of the support group.

This episode (among others) led me to the conclusion that I was working in a toxic environment and that I needed to seek employment elsewhere. I continue with this study from my new and much safer location. As you can imagine, this was not the only run-in I had with this jealous colleague. More examples of scientific skullduggery will follow in future posts....