LEBANON, N.H. (AP) – A Dartmouth Medical School professor who has won international recognition for her research on cervical cancer vaccines has been barred from treating patients at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center.
Diane Harper had to move her studies out of the Hitchcock Clinic after it declined to renew her clinical privileges in July, she told the Valley News of Lebanon. Harper said the clinic declined to give a reason.
“I’ll find a way to continue to do research,” she said. “(But) it’s not fun to have to go through this.”
A spokesman for the center, Jason Aldous, declined to comment, saying the matter was confidential.
Harper’s studies on the vaccine against the human papilloma virus have been published in medical journals including The Lancet and Vaccine. She was promoted to full professor at Dartmouth Medical School just weeks before being dropped by the clinic. The school and clinic are separate entities within the center.
The human papilloma virus causes most cervical cancers, a leading cause of death among women in many developing countries. One vaccine against HPV, Gardasil, manufactured by Merck & Co. Inc., was approved by federal regulators earlier this year. Another, made by GlaxoSmithKline Inc., could be approved soon.
Harper has done research on both as director of the Gynecologic Cancer Prevention Research Group, which she formed 10 years ago within the Norris Cotton Cancer Center, another part of the center.
Now she has opened a private office to see patients for follow-up. Her studies on the vaccines’ long-term effectiveness have included patients from New Hampshire and Vermont.
“I’m sure I probably said some things I would regret now. I think when it comes to who’s to blame, (there’s) blame to share,” she said.
About a week after her treatment privileges expired, Harper said she was giving a tour of the obstetrics and gynecology treatment rooms at the clinic to representatives of a pharmaceutical firm – a visit she said the clinic knew about well in advance – when security officers escorted the group from the building.
“I was embarrassed for Dartmouth,” she said. “I was embarrassed (to have) industry see Dartmouth behaving that way.”
Harper said she suspects conflicts with some of the clinic’s obstetrics and gynecology staff are behind what happened, especially because one of her research projects was rejected by the department at the last minute.
She had already selected her staff, and she reacted strongly, she said.
She said after that dispute, which was several years ago, she had the chance to apply for five other, related studies, but her clinic supervisors made it clear they would not approve them.
Leslie DeMars, a gynecologic cancer specialist and longtime colleague, said she did not know the clinic’s side of the story, but said Harper’s departure was a loss for the center.
“Diane is an internationally recognized expert on HPV and the prevention of HPV-related cancers,” and her research will have “global consequences,” DeMars said.
John Currie, former chairman of the obstetrics and gynecology department, recruited Harper in 1996 and said she is a gifted researcher, but perhaps a poor fit for a department that is not very interested in supporting research. He said if he were still at the hospital, he would work hard to keep her.
Harper said the cutoff has not slowed her research and other clinics and research centers are trying to recruit her.
Meanwhile, she speaks at conferences around the world, gives television and magazine interviews and wins awards. This fall, the New Hampshire Academy of Family Physicians named her its physician of the year.
—
Information from: Lebanon Valley News, http://www.vnews.com
AP-ES-11-20-06 1109EST
Send questions/comments to the editors.
