Last week it was announced that the Isala hospital in Zwolle has suspended two cardiologists because they are suspects in a criminal investigation into corruption. The suspects allegedly allowed themselves to be bribed by manufacturers who in return received preferential treatment for their products.
From research by de Volkskrant it now appears that the judiciary has also seized an emeritus professor of interventional cardiology at Radboudumc who previously worked at Isala, the former director of the Isala Heart Center and a retired cardiologist from Isala.
The Radboudumc professor is regarded as an authority in his field and was awarded a royal award three years ago for his services to the Isala Heart Center and Radboudumc.
Active on Curaçao
The former director of the Heart Center recently suddenly resigned from his duties as chairman of the supervisory board of PEC Zwolle. He also recently deleted his social media accounts. The retired cardiologist is still active in Curaçao. The investigation service Fiod recently carried out searches in the Netherlands, Germany and Curaçao because of the investigation.
The belongings of the two cardiologists who are still employed by the hospital were seized. The workplace of the two has been searched by lawyers from the hospital, Isala confirms. “We can’t say why and more than that,” a hospital spokesperson said.
A spokesperson for the Fiod does not want to provide further information about the investigation. None of the suspects could be reached for comment so far.
All five suspects known to date are closely involved or have been involved with the company Diagram bv. This company conducts worldwide non-commercial and commercial heart and blood vessel research and provides IT services to hospitals. The company was recently raided by the Fiod.
The company was founded in 1996 by, among others, the emeritus professor, who was working at Isala at the time. The ties between Isala and the company are close; nine cardiologists from the hospital jointly own a 40.5 percent stake in the company. The former director of the Isala Heart Center, suspect in the investigation, also has an interest in Diagram.
Sick working atmosphere
Isala’s cardiology department has been plagued by conflict for some time. The heart center, which is known as one of the best in the Netherlands, was discredited last year because of a bad working atmosphere. From internal reports that de Volkskrant has realized, it appears that there was a question of nepotism and a bad working climate. Employees of other departments, among others, complained to the hospital board about the cardiology department.
But the possible self-enrichment and conflicts of interest of cardiologists have also been a topic of discussion within the hospital for some time. The hospital had an internal, confidential report drawn up last year, in which the sensitive position of the company Diagram was discussed. The report found that some cardiologists at the hospital were suspicious of colleagues’ actions because of their financial interests in Diagram.
In that report, which is in the hands of de Volkskrant, also described how conducting non-commercial scientific research and commercial research was stressful for medical manufacturers. For example, the confidential document stated that Diagram was partly dependent on commercial parties: the proceeds of this research were partly used to finance ‘often loss-making scientific studies’.
Because commercial parties sponsored the scientific studies in this way, it was important for the cardiologists involved to ‘maintain a good relationship with suppliers as sponsors’, according to the article. Those relationships are now being investigated by the judiciary.