The Almighty Clinic

[Bridget Conant]

I have heard people explain their rationale for accepting the pitiful Cleveland Clinc "offer" of a medical building in exchange for ending their lease early as "you cannot fight the Clinic." They mention the "deep pockets" of the Clinic (which we are seeing fund the BL, anti-64, and Summers campaigns) and just an overall sense of resignation.

Well, the Cleveland Clinic is not invincible. There are chinks in the armor. As had been reported in the news media, they have recently been forced to close their lab at Marymount due to irregularities and improper procedures that the government said "put patients at risk."

More importantly, the Clinic HAS been sued and LOST. An interesting recent case illustrates how dirty the Clinic can be when trying to get its own way.

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/789799

Dr Yadav was improperly terminated from his position at the Clinic. For whatever reason, they wanted him gone and they claimed he didn't disclose financial conflicts over a device he developed. In fact, he had repeatedly disclosed his business activities.

What is concerning is the way the Clinic attempted to manipulate the situation. Dr Yadav alleged that:

Yadav accuses the Cleveland Clinic of creating the perception, through its public statements to the Dealer, that he was guilty of scientific misconduct, that he had "concealed" or been "dishonest with respect to his financial disclosures," that the SAPPHIRE study results were "flawed," and that there had been a "cause" for terminating his employment. These perceptions, "permeating through the media, the professional community, and the community in which Dr Yadav and his family reside, have stigmatized Dr Yadav and his family in a manner which is irreparable," the suit states.

Very similar to our present situation, the Clinic, with its deep pockets, manipulates and controls the media in the town. They tried to destroy Dr Yadav's reputation to accomplish their own goals.

The result?
http://medcitynews.com/2010/05/clevelan ... pt-policy/

The Cleveland Clinic has admitted that its former staff physician and inventor, Dr. Jay Yadav, did not run afoul of the health system’s conflicts of interest policy as it had claimed in 2006 while declining to renew Yadav’s employment contract.

The Clinic is a big BULLY, no doubt about it, but they can be vanquished. They may be able to bully the mayor and council, but they CANNOT bully an entire city.