UCI: Medical University Takes Steps to Avoid Future Scandals

      After a series of lawsuits and scandals over the past five years, UC Irvine has bolstered program management and faculty education, the AP/Contra Costa Times reports. Recent scandals include: a lawsuit in June by the family of an Alzheimer's patient, alleging the university performed non- consensual research on the patient; last year's firing of the director of the university's willed-body program for selling body parts and holding secret anatomy classes without permission; and a $20 million settlement in a string of lawsuits stemming from a 1995 incident involving the misappropriation of human eggs. William Parker, the university's vice chancellor of research for the College of Medicine, described these incidents as more than "a few bad apples. ... There were institutional reviews that were missing." He added, "We've taken a broad health care response to our health care responsibilities." The university has hired an additional administrator to oversee a panel that deals with alleged misconduct; initiated a training program to improve managers' skills in dealing with financial and human resource issues; and established a community advisory group (Carter, 7/10).