A year ago, we brought you the story of Dr Gabrielle Horne,
the Dalhousie University cardiologist banned from carrying
out her research because of an anonymous complaint in
October 2002 ("School
for scandal," NRM Vol 1, No 5, March 15, 2004).
Dalhousie and Halifax's Capital Health are supposed to
solve these sorts of dispute within 10 days. Twenty-nine
months later the case is still dragging on. We know precious
little about Dr Horne's alleged wrongdoings, just that
the complaint cited patient safety and collegiality (personality
conflicts) as concerns.
Last month, the Canadian Association
of University Teachers (CAUT), which is supporting Dr
Horne, won access to some of Capital Health's legal
bills through the Freedom of Information legislation.
The numbers tell a disturbing tale.
For the 2003 fiscal year, the year Dr Horne's case began,
Capital Health's private legal expenses nearly doubled
from $248,000 to $432,000. In 2004 costs mushroomed
to $858,000; 2005 looks to be on the same track —
in the first eight months they've managed to rack up
$515,000 in legal bills.
Though CAUT doesn't think all this
cash was spent to keep Dr Horne out of her lab, executive
director James Turk says it's "more than misspending
— it's a healthcare issue." That's because an agreement
was already reached, in June 2003, between Dr Horne
and Capital Health's CEO and the vice-president of Dalhousie.
Mr Turk estimates that money could have paid for 92
hip replacements, 57 heart bypasses, or 229 cataract
surgeries.
Capital Health says the 2003 agreement
hasn't been implemented because of patient safety concerns.
Dr Horne and CAUT counter that any concerns should have
been laid to rest when the research was approved and
reapproved by the hospital's own research ethics committee
after the complaint. Ironically, Dr Horne's clinical
workload was substantially increased around the same
time.
In an open letter to NS Premier
John Hamm on March 15, CAUT warned that all this foot-dragging
over the allegations could irrevocably damage Dalhousie's
ability to attract good people. Dalhousie has the only
med school in the Maritimes and it's already in competition
with better-funded schools like U of T. "I had calls
from six other clinical faculty saying 'What's happening
to Dr Horne is happening to me'," says Mr Turk. "Many
of them have since left."
Dr Horne, Dalhousie med school's
first female MD/PhD in cardiology and an expert on the
mechanisms of heart failure, continues to carry out
her clinical and teaching duties but she's still persona
non grata at the QE II Heart Function Clinic's research
lab.
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