The University of Minnesota Medical School sent a warning letter to spinal surgeon Dr. David Polly after he failed to disclose payments received from med-tech titan Medtronic (NYSE:MDT).
Polly violated several of the University’s conflict of interest disclosure requirements by not divulging payments he received from the Fridley, Minn.-based medical device giant in two published journal articles and on one research poster, according to the university.
"I thought I was doing as good a job as could be done on the disclosure and complying with the university policies," Polly told Minnesota Public Radio. "I came up short in two or three instances where my ‘I’s’ weren’t perfectly dotted or ‘T’s’ crossed. I acknowledge that and completely accept the responsibility that goes with it."
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The warning letter didn’t recommend any disciplinary action for Polly and noted that the surgeon "demonstrated substantial compliance" with University of Minnesota conflict disclosure rules otherwise, according to the news station.
The review on Polly was launched two years ago after GOP Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) criticized the spinal surgeon for failing to report payments he received from Medtronic to members of a 2006 Senate committee while requesting Congressional funding for research that would have benefited the medical device maker.
The University of Minnesota responded to Grassley’s allegations in 2009 after finding that Polly had properly disclosed any conflicts of interest according to the university’s policy at the time. The school promised to review the situation further and discovered the 3 violations, said the news site.
Aaron Friedman, dean of the Medical School told the news organization that he believed Polly’s infractions were more likely oversight than deliberate non-disclosure.