Center for Bioethics

N504 Boynton
410 Church Street
Minneapolis MN 55455
612-624-9440
Fax: 612-624-9108
www.bioethics.umn.edu

Dr. Brooks Jackson

Medical School Dean's Office
C607 Mayo Memorial Bldg
420 Delaware Street SE
Minneapolis, MN 55455
April 23, 2015
Dear Dr. Jackson:
It has been nearly a month since we spoke about the incident last year involving your
communications office and an injured research subject who spoke out about his mistreatment on
Fox 9 News. As I told you on March 26, it appears that your office used its access to the
patients private mental health records in order to attack the patients credibility.
On May 19, 2014, a KMSP (Fox 9) News report told the story of Robert, a mentally ill
research subject admitted to a locked ward at Fairview Hospital in 2007 under the care of Dr.
Stephen Olson. According to the report, Olson pressured Robert into a study of an unapproved
antipsychotic drug called bifeprunox and kept him in the study despite severe side-effects,
including suicidal ideation, even after the FDA had rejected the drug for marketing approval. All
studies on the drug were later halted after the death of a previously healthy subject at another
site. Records showed that Olson repeatedly dismissed Roberts symptoms as psychosomatic.
In response to questions about the case, your communications office provided a statement about
Robert that read in part, "His medical record shows extreme anxiety and paranoia, a history of
head injuries and lengthy battle with alcoholism. It is highly inappropriate for him to be put in
the media spotlight as a spokesperson for clinical trial safety."
As I told you in an email on March 27, I believe that the use of a patients private medical
records in order to discredit him is disgraceful. It may well also be illegal. The disclosure of
protected health information to a communications staff member for use in a television broadcast
appears to violate the Minnesota Health Records Act, the Health Insurance Portability and
Accountability Act (HIPAA) and university health privacy policy.
University policy requires anyone who is aware of a suspected privacy breach to report it to the
Chief Information Officer. I filed a report on April 10.
After the Board of Regents meeting on March 27, in the presence of a number of reporters, Brian
Lucas, your senior communications officer, confirmed his part in producing that statement. You

said that Robert deserved a public apology, and promised to make that happen. Yet nearly a
month has passed, and neither you nor anyone else in your office has apologized.
Can you tell me if you still plan to keep your promise?

Yours sincerely,

Carl Elliott MD PhD

Professor, Center for Bioethics