Hospital Bungled Handling of Problematic Heart Surgeon; Tumult at eRNA Firm

Welcome to the latest edition of Investigative Roundup, highlighting some of the best investigative reporting on healthcare each week.

Report: Hospital Failed to Address Problems With Heart Surgeon

A New Hampshire hospital may make leadership and internal quality changes following an internal report prompted by a Boston Globe investigation into one of its top heart surgeons, according to New Hampshire Public Radio.

Manchester-based Catholic Medical Center commissioned the report after the Globe investigation found that hospital leaders ignored or dismissed warning signs regarding Yvon Baribeau, MD, who accumulated 21 malpractice settlements, including 14 linked to patient deaths, according to the story.

Ultimately, the report, based on interviews with more than 90 employees as well as a review of more than 300,000 pages of documents, found that hospital leaders did not hold Baribeau accountable or subject him to more oversight, and reacted defensively to malpractice allegations.

The report also noted that hospital leaders took action against top medical personnel who spoke up against Baribeau and identified flaws in the hospital’s peer review process. Recommendations outlined in the report included restructuring the senior leadership team, improving the peer review process, and updating additional quality management systems.

In a statement accompanying the report’s release, Alex Walker, president and CEO of Catholic Medical Center, said the following: “I accept the findings of this independent review and I take responsibility for them, especially those areas where we have fallen short and could have done better. I am committed to building on the strengths identified in the report and working to implement the recommendations necessary for us to improve and move forward.”

Data Integrity Concerns at eRNA Firm

Concerns around data integrity have led to “major tumult” at the biotech company Laronde, which has been “seen as ‘Moderna 2.0’ by some employees,” according to an investigation by STAT and the Boston Globe.

The company has been working to develop longer-lasting therapies that set off less of an immune response by using what it called endless RNA, or eRNA, according to the report. However, issues at the biotech have included shelving its two most advanced programs — including its GLP-1 therapy — missing internal goals for submitting paperwork for a clinical trial by the end of the year, and losing dozens of employees and top executives, the outlets reported.

Prior to a disclosure to employees in February 2022, misgivings about data produced by Laronde’s former veteran scientist Catherine Cifuentes-Rojas had circulated for roughly a year, after others had “tried and failed to replicate the stellar results,” STAT and the Globe reported. (Cifuentes-Rojas did not respond to detailed questions sent to her home, her new employer, and an email address associated with her name, STAT and the Globe noted.)

Others with knowledge of the company’s inner workings who spoke with STAT and the Globe — most on the condition of anonymity — placed blame for the data integrity issues elsewhere, including on “executives who created such intense demands on employees,” according to the report. Some of those who spoke with the outlets even expressed remorse themselves, having not taken the situation more seriously earlier.

“In spite of the turmoil inside of Laronde, many former employees still see potential in eRNA,” STAT and the Globe wrote. “The company has begun demystifying some of the questions about the technology, and seen promising results when comparing eRNA to mRNA. It’s not that circular RNA is not promising, it’s just not as stellar as Cifuentes-Rojas claimed it was, one employee who left in recent months said.”

STAT and the Globe reported that Laronde declined their request for an interview. However, the outlet reported that, in a lengthy statement, the company acknowledged it had been developing a GLP-1 therapy throughout 2020 and 2021, but had since found its early experiments were unreliable. “Certain individuals” involved in the GLP-1 work, Laronde further told the outlets, are no longer with the company.

“As always, we execute on our vision with high scientific rigor and standards, and if such standards are not adhered to, we act accordingly,” Laronde added in its statement to STAT and the Globe. “As a clearer picture of our historic GLP-1 efforts emerged in 2022, we engaged our board and investors and took appropriate action. Those experiments do not bear on the prospects of our other platform applications.”

Allina Pauses Policy of Withholding Care From Indebted Patients

Allina Health, a large nonprofit health system based in Minnesota, announced that it would pause a policy of withholding care from patients with outstanding medical debt, the New York Times reported.

The move follows a recent Times report, which noted that, although Allina Health’s hospitals treated anyone in emergency departments, the health system withheld other services from indebted patients, including children and those with diabetes and depression, according to the outlet.

Allina Health’s pause on the practice does not restore care for indebted patients who have already lost access to services, the Times reported.

Lisa Shannon, president and CEO of Allina Health, called the move a “thoughtful pause” as the health system re-examines the policy, the Times reported.

The outlet added that Matt Hoffman, MD, an Allina Health primary care physician in Vadnais Heights, Minnesota, said the following: “I hope this is not just a temporary pause until the heat is off. I hope they do the right thing and reinstate the patients who were already terminated.”