A dispute over research sponsored by a pharmaceutical company at a leading Canadian hospital has been resolved after consultation with outside research experts. The agreement reinstates the researcher, Dr Nancy Olivieri, to her previous academic position.
A resolution to the dispute came after Sir David Weatherall of Oxford University and Professor David Nathan of Harvard University conducted two days of mediation between Dr Olivieri and Toronto's Hospital for Sick Children. The University of Toronto's president, Robert Prichard, facilitated the agreement concluded last week.
The dispute over Dr Olivieri's research with a new drug treatment for thalassaemia had lasted more than two years and had upset research staff at the hospital (BMJ 1999;318:77). Dr Olivieri claimed that she had been refused legal support by the hospital after she broke a confidentiality agreement with the sponsoring firm, Apotex, to publicise her concerns about the safety of their drug, deferiprone. On 7 January, the hospital announced the removal of Dr Olivieri as head of its haemoglobinopathy programme.
A statement issued jointly by the hospital and Dr Olivieri on 26 January said: “She will continue to lead the clinical and research program on haemoglobinopathy patients and clinically based research on thalassaemia, sickle cell and related diseases.”
Under the terms of the agreement, Dr Olivieri will move from the Hospital for Sick Children to the nearby Toronto Hospital, where she will continue to lead the haemoglobinopathy programme for adults. The Hospital for Sick Children will also pay Dr Olivieri's legal costs associated with the dispute and will withdraw all letters and written complaints about her from its records. Sir David and Professor Nathan said: “We are delighted by the resolution of this matter.”