Probes Targeted UCI Psychiatrist Steven Plotkin

From a extended and detailed report by KTLA

UCI (Univ. Calif. at Irvine) psychiatry professor Steven G. Potkin is one of UCI's biggest stars. The 60-year-old psychiatrist is among the university's most prolific researchers. He brings in lucrative contracts from some of the world's biggest drug companies and has presided over as many as a dozen clinical trials at a time. [...]

But at the same time Potkin has attracted funding and recognition for UCI, he has also been investigated three times by the university for alleged ethical or financial breaches, according to more than 300 pages of documents obtained by The Times. And although Potkin says he was not disciplined as a result the investigations, each raised serious questions about his practices and how UCI dealt with the issues.

Most recently, administrators found in 2004 that the professor had skirted the school's patient safety review board to test a drug for a pharmaceutical company without the required university approval. When UCI learned of the research, it ordered Potkin to immediately halt the study.

Seven years earlier, administrators looked into why Potkin had directed drug companies to pay more than $2 million in research funds to a firm his family owned. The payments were related to studies he was performing at UCI. The university concluded that the company may have been set up to avoid UCI overhead fees, and it prohibited Potkin from using the company in future research projects.

UCI launched its first investigation of Potkin's work in 1989, four years after the psychiatrist arrived at the university from the National Institutes of Mental Health, where he specialized in schizophrenia research. Fellow UCI doctors accused Potkin of wrongfully billing Medi-Cal for his research. Although Medi-Cal rejected some billings for the clinical trial, the state and UCI concluded that Medi-Cal was not defrauded.

Despite the repeated investigations, Potkin's star has continued to rise, and this summer he was given a raise and a promotion.

The grants that researchers such as Potkin bring are an important source of funds for universities. The publicity brings prestige that attracts students, professors and donors, which is especially important for a school such as UCI, which is still trying to build its reputation.

UCI's medical programs have been racked by problems in the last decade, including the theft of eggs and embryos from patients, cancer research violations, illicit sales of body parts and shortcomings in its liver, kidney and bone marrow transplant programs. In each case, critics say, warnings were ignored and serious problems downplayed.

Dr. Mike Samoszuk, a former pathology professor who left UCI late last year to work as the chief medical officer for a medical device division of a drug company, said that although he had no knowledge of the Potkin case, the university's thirst for research funding may have caused it to look the other way when ethical lapses were discovered.

Documents provided by the university suggest that some of Potkin's activities had not been approved by UCI.

All kinds of shady deals going on here, all for fun and profit.