Two former OU medical school officials file lawsuit

Journal Record, The (Oklahoma City), Dec 15, 2000 by Kelly Kurt Associated Press

TULSA -- Two former University of Oklahoma medical school officials allege in a federal lawsuit that they were wrongfully forced to resign as part of a university cover-up involving a Tulsa cancer study.

Dr. Harold Brooks, the former dean of OU's medical school in Tulsa, and Edward Wortham, the former director of the Tulsa branch's office of research, accuse OU President David Boren and other officials of using them as scapegoats for the university's lack of research protocols.

Boren and others "determined that in the political interests of the university, due process obligations would be ignored," the lawsuit filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Tulsa alleges.

Brooks and Wortham say they resigned under pressure after the U.S. Office for Human Research Protections suspended government-sponsored research in June at the Tulsa campus because of safety concerns involving human testing of a melanoma vaccine.

The two allege they were wrongfully told they would be fired the next day and lose their pay if they didn't resign.

Wortham previously told The Associated Press that he asked superiors at OU's Health Sciences Center in Oklahoma City for compliance help in February after he became aware in late 1999 of problems with the study. But no compliance system was in place, Wortham said.

OU officials have denied such contact from Wortham and said they learned of the problems when the government intervened in June.

An attempt by The AP to reach OU legal counsel Joseph Harroz for comment Thursday was not immediately successful.

Harroz, who also is named in the lawsuit, declined last week to comment on the allegations, saying the media was an inappropriate forum in which to do so.

Wortham and Brooks allege among other things that they were denied the opportunity to defend themselves against allegations of dishonesty and incompetence, they were denied due process guaranteed by OU's Faculty Handbook and that their reputations were harmed as a result.

They are seeking actual and punitive damages and formal apologies from OU officials.

An investigation by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration into the cancer study is ongoing. The agency has, however, granted permission for a handful of melanoma patients to continue receiving the vaccine.