Former VA officials in Ark. barred from research

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PEGGY HARRIS
Associated Press Writer

LITTLE ROCK — Two former top administrators at the Central Arkansas Veterans Healthcare System were barred last month from conducting research as part of ongoing efforts to address deficiencies in studies involving humans, the system chief of staff said Thursday.

Former Chief of Staff Nicholas Lang, who retired from the post in May 2007 to take an administrative post at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, and former Assistant Chief of Staff Philip Kern lost their research privileges permanently in July, Dr. Margie Scott said. Research privileges also were terminated for a third doctor, Kevin Means, in August of 2007, she said.

All three doctors failed to provide the proper documentation for their studies, Scott said. They continue to do see patients for the VA.

"There's never been concern that we had harmed anyone. There was never any indication that any patient was being harmed because the paperwork wasn't being done," Scott emphasized.

[unhappycamper]

1. This paragraph caught my eye:

Examples included failing to report on the deaths of 105 people who were once part of several studies, filming dementia patients without proper documentation, failing to provide complete consent forms to participants in a coronary-artery bypass procedure, failing to inform participants in one study that they would be screened for HIV, allowing a person with no medical experience to collect muscle tissue, and destroying records just before a federal audit.

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2. Good catch. nt