business

A prominent U.S. senator probing the financial ties between the head of spine surgery at the University of Minnesota and device giant Medtronic Inc. has broadened his inquiry to include Fairview Health Services and a distributor of spine surgery products in St. Louis Park.

Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, sent letters Tuesday to Mark Eustis, chief executive of Fairview Health Services, and Timothy Healy, head of Team Spine-Minnesota Inc., requesting information regarding their relationship with Dr. David Polly of the University of Minnesota's Medical School.

An internationally known spine surgeon, Polly has been a Medtronic consultant since leaving the military in 2003. Between 2003 and 2007, Medtronic paid him $1.2 million for consulting, expenses and honoraria -- details that were unearthed in Grassley's ongoing investigation of conflicts of interest in medicine.

Grassley, a senior member of the Senate Finance Committee, also sent letters to University President Robert Bruininks requesting communications sent or received by Polly, an active spine surgeon and researcher. Citing state laws on privacy, the U said it will release those documents only if Polly consents.

University General Counsel Mark Rotenberg said Tuesday that Grassley "raises important and serious concerns. The university is committed to having the highest standards possible for individual and institutional conflicts of interest avoidance." The U is working on new conflict-of-interest policies.

Such consulting relationships are not uncommon in medical technology; companies say input from doctors helps make devices safer and more effective. But critics allege that the monetary nature of these relationships could skew doctors' preferences and create conflicts of interest in the types of devices they use on patients.

Grassley's letter to Fairview's Eustis asks for a monthly accounting of all devices used by Polly in surgery since January 2008, as well as an explanation regarding Polly's role in Fairview's choice of devices used in spine procedures. The senator also asked whether Polly disclosed his relationship with Medtronic to Fairview.

"We are gathering the information requested in the letter, and will respond as quickly as possible," said Fairview spokeman Ryan Davenport.

The senator's letter to Team Spine asks for a monthly accounting of all Medtronic products used by Polly since January 2008, the amount of bonus earned by a sales representative, Terry McCord, and all correspondence between McCord and Polly since January 2008. Communications between McCord and Healy since July 24 were also requested, as well as consulting reports filed with the company by Polly between March and late July.

Healy could not be reached for comment Tuesday. A Medtronic spokeswoman confirmed that Team Spine is a distributor of its products.

Responding to an earlier inquiry from Grassley, the university sent a 300-page response last month.

In Tuesday's letter, Grassley highlights several comments Polly made during an interview with Minnesota Public Radio and to a university conflict-of-interest committee in 2006 regarding his government-funded research on a Medtronic bone-growth product.

The comments "appear to be false or misleading both to your review committee back in 2006 and in a recent radio interview," Grassley wrote.

John Lundquist, a Minneapolis attorney who represents Polly, said the surgeon "believes that his statement was accurate when made and continues to be accurate."

In 2006, Polly agreed to a conflict-management plan after a university committee determined that his relationship with Medtronic represented a potential conflict of interest.

Rotenberg said Tuesday that "we are investigating the extent to which the review committee may or may not have been accurately informed by Dr. Polly."

That inquiry is ongoing, he said.

Janet Moore • 612-673-7752