Vax Skeptics Eye Hospital Board Seats; Pharmacist Denies Morning-After Pill

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

Vax Mandate Skeptics Aim to Lead Florida Hospital

Four conservative candidates — three of whom are known to be skeptical of COVID vaccine mandates — are campaigning to join the board of a public hospital in Florida, highlighting how elections for obscure offices are becoming the forefront of political battles in the wake of the pandemic, according to a report from the Washington Post.

The candidates, who are running for positions on the board of Sarasota Memorial Hospital, a safety net hospital in the Tampa region, are campaigning on a platform of “medical freedom.” The term has been favored by conservative movements, and propagates the idea that patients do not have enough control over their medical care. Proponents believe that lack of access to drugs touted by politicians but rejected by physicians, such as ivermectin, and COVID vaccine mandates are examples of how patients have lost autonomy over their health.

“Calling it a vaccination is a joke,” Victor Rohe, longtime Republican activist and one of the candidates for the board, told the Post. “All it really is is a government-mandated shot to inoculate people to the fact that the government owns your body, and you do not.”

The other candidates include Joseph S. Chirillo, MD, a retired physician, and nurses Patricia Maraia and Bridgette Fiorucci.

While health policy experts think it is unlikely that the conservative candidates will win the election to the Sarasota hospital board, their campaign is still a testament to how ideologies around medical issues such as COVID, abortion, and vaccines have fallen on party lines — and how local elections could become the next battlefront.

“All you need to do is look at how [school boards] have now become very political … and how boards of education have ignored the science of education,” said Michele Issel, PhD, a public health professor emeritus at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. “There’s this new disregard for the professional training that medical people have, and a disregard for the science of what is best for the population.”

Jury Sides with Pharmacist Who Refused to Dispense Morning After Pill

A Minnesota jury ruled last Friday that a pharmacist who refused to fill a prescription for a morning-after pill because of his own personal and religious beliefs did not violate the civil rights of his female patient, according to a report from NBC News.

Andrea Anderson, a patient living in a small town in Minnesota, filed a civil lawsuit against pharmacist George Badeaux in 2019, after she said she was forced to travel 100 miles round-trip to fill her prescription for an emergency contraceptive. Badeaux, who worked at the only pharmacy in town, refused to fill Anderson’s prescription because it would violate his beliefs, so Anderson had to drive for hours in the middle of a snowstorm to obtain her medication, her complaint stated.

“I can’t help but wonder about the other women who may be turned away,” Anderson said in a statement in response to the ruling. “What if they accept the pharmacist’s decision and don’t realize that this behavior is wrong? What if they have no other choice? Not everyone has the means or ability to drive hundreds of miles to get a prescription filled.”

Although the jury ruled that Badeaux did not violate Anderson’s civil rights, they decided that his actions did inflict emotional harm and that Anderson is entitled to $25,000 in damages.

Badeaux’s lawyer, however, says it’s unlikely that she will receive any money because the jury did not find that he discriminated against Anderson on the basis of sex.

“We are incredibly happy with the jury’s decision,” attorney Charles Shreffler said in a statement. “Medical professionals should be free to practice their professions in line with their beliefs.”

Pioneer of Gene Therapy Research Presides Over Toxic Workplace

Jim Wilson, MD, PhD, a researcher who has led the field in developing gene therapies for rare disorders, has for years led a toxic workplace environment at the highly acclaimed Gene Therapy Program at the University of Pennsylvania, a STAT investigation has found.

Current and former employees of the program — many of whom requested anonymity for fear of retaliation — told STAT that Wilson and other members of the leadership team condoned an abusive workplace where bullying and harassment were commonplace. Wilson himself, they said, could be intolerant and dismissive, and at some points screamed at or belittled staffers who pushed back on his demands.

The workplace culture had consequences, including a case in which key growth plans of at least one research program were derailed, the investigation found. Additionally, it resulted in a mass exodus of talent. Between 2017 and 2020, 126 employees resigned or were fired from the Gene Therapy Program — a number that represented about half of all staff.

Jennifer Royal-Fitch, a former recruiter at the program, told STAT she resigned in March 2021 after seeing “with my own eyes how people were abused” by Wilson and other executives on his leadership team.

The University of Pennsylvania conducted an investigation into Wilson’s lab last year, which confirmed some of the allegations of harassment and bullying. However, the STAT report found that internal investigations shielded Wilson from some responsibility. In response, the university stated that it’s investigation was conducted appropriately, and it is taking steps to improve conditions in Wilson’s lab.

In a statement in response to STAT‘s investigation, Wilson said he did not initially “appreciate the challenges of managing the tremendous growth in our organization.”

“I sincerely regret that some members of our staff were uncomfortable working in this environment,” he said.