On Sept. 30, Thomas C. Cesario, dean of UC Irvine s medical school, demonstrated an acute if tacit appreciation of Fussell s advice. Miraculously, the dean has at least so far kept himself safely out of the line of fire. In a memorandum likely intended for public consumption, Cesario also promised to hold department heads responsible for improving administrative oversight to nix potential future scandals. It is unknown how comfortable Cesario was issuing threats to his staff about management and oversight. But the string of medical-school scandals since then in fertility research, billing, cancer research, embezzlement, accreditation and the current cadaver nightmare suggests that the dean s oversight skills are lacking.
Examples are plentiful.
It s going in the right direction. He allowed an investigation into the highly questionable ethical practices of one professor, Dr. John Hiserodt, to be conducted by Hiserodt s business partners. Memories are apparently short, and the dean is nothing if not a local media darling. He is also a favorite of Orange County s corporate elite, who routinely tap into tens of millions of dollars in annual federal research grants that go to UCI s medical school. Gene Ioli, a former UCI cancer researcher and corruption whistle blower who is suing the university for alleged retaliation, is among those who say they believe Cesario has fostered an environment in which ethical concerns have been secondary to the university s medical center and school profits.