According to the report, Dr. Polly and colleagues received $466,644 from the Department of Defense for a two-year study of soldiers treated with Medtronic’s bone growth product, Infuse, where infection also occurred. Records, provided to Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa), indicated that Medtronic paid Dr. Polly $1.14 million for consulting services from 2004-2007, including prior work with Infuse.
Dr. Polly also billed Medtronic $50,000 for lobbying-related costs, including trips in 2005 and 2006 to Washington, D.C. to call on several Congress members, according to the report. The University of Minnesota had cleared Dr. Polly to work on the government-sponsored Medtronic research, noting that the government work and his previous Medtronic consulting appeared “sufficiently separate from the research he is performing.”
Medtronic has been under scrutiny regarding its relationship with physicians, including a July 2008 safety warning regarding Infuse in cervical spinal injuries and the work of Timothy Kuklo, MD, accused of fabricating Infuse trial results, according to the report.
Lawyers fro Dr. Polly said in the report he has worked hard to track his time spent in his roles as researcher and consultant and that he has acted “honorably in advocating for injured veterans.”
Read the WSJ’s report about the Minnesota spine surgeon’s failure to disclose his relationship with Medtronic.
