X-Original-To: ellio023@ruby.tc.umn.

edu
Delivered-To: ellio023@ruby.tc.umn.edu
X-Umn-Remote-Mta: [N] lsoft.ahc.umn.edu [128.101.246.151] #+LO+HN+TR
X-Umn-Classification: local
X-Umn-Remote-Mta: [N] x-160-94-186-116.surg.umn.edu [160.94.186.116]
#+LO+TS+AU+HN
X-Mailer: QUALCOMM Windows Eudora Version 7.1.0.9
Approved-By: Aaron Friedman <ahccomm@TC.UMN.EDU>
Date: Tue, 8 Feb 2011 15:45:40 -0600
Reply-To: Aaron Friedman <ahccomm@tc.umn.edu>
From: Aaron Friedman <ahccomm@tc.umn.edu>
Subject: Response to Regents' Statement
To: ALL-AHC-ALL@LSOFT.AHC.UMN.EDU
Sender: owner-all-ahc-all@LSOFT.AHC.UMN.EDU

Dear colleagues,

Yesterday afternoon, the University's Board of Regents responded to a call from some of
our faculty members to further investigate the events surrounding the tragic suicide of
patient Dan Markingson five years ago.

The Regents' response included a detailed analysis by General Counsel Mark Rotenberg
of the specific charges of the late November letter, and can be reviewed here. There has
been extensive external review of the events at both a state and federal level, as well as
within our University, and I know there will remain opinions surrounding this tragic
incident. I see the Regents' statement as the end of the University's review of this specific
patient's case.

As a result of this case, our department of psychiatry has experienced significant scrutiny
and withering criticism over the past five years, and through it all, the faculty of the
department have performed remarkably well in fulfilling its mission.

When Chuck Schulz was recruited as chair ten years ago, he came to the University with
a strong reputation in place and promised to build a solid program in education, research,
and patient care. That he has done. His leadership has led to the recruitment of seventeen
productive faculty members engaged in a wide range of mental health clinical care and
leading research. The number of University graduates choosing the field of psychiatry for
their residency and future careers has jumped from three to fifteen, increasing the number
of new physician psychiatrists to care for patients. And the number of NIH grants to the
department has more than doubled, with a tripling of the funding amount. These are all
marks of a successful program under able leadership in the Medical School.

In addition, I also want to note that Stephen Olson continues to dedicate much of his
work to treatment-resistant psychosis, and continues to treat some of the most complex
psychiatric cases within the Fairview health system.

There is one issue underlying these ongoing accusations that I would like to address here,
and that is the idea that somehow, engaging in research funded by industry is a practice to
always avoid. When our physicians, dentists, nurses, pharmacists, veterinarians, and
public health professionals discover new ideas, new knowledge, or new treatments, it's
our job to ensure that knowledge becomes widely available.

That’s our mission on behalf of the public good. In academia, we publish those results in
peer-reviewed journals, and sometimes, those results are picked up by existing or
emerging businesses. That's a good outcome and something we promote as the state's
land grant institution with an expectation for the public’s benefit. We all work within a
university that sees the value of working with industry to further our research and service
missions. And yes, we need to carefully oversee those relationships to ensure any
conflicts are recognized and managed, and the new University policies in place have been
developed to do just that.

I am certain there will be further discussion of private support of research at a public

university, and I look forward to a thoughtful airing of those issues.

Aaron Friedman, M.D.

Vice President for Health Sciences and Dean of the Medical School