Incoming President Of IOM Outed As Member Of Boards Of Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Medtronic And Pepsico

Roy M. Poses | Health Care Renewal | February 24, 2014

We just discussed how the new CEO of the National Quality Forum was revealed to be a member of the board of directors of Premier Inc, and discussed the implications of this apparently intense conflict of interest.

Now another new leader of an influential non-profit organization dedicated to improving health and health care has also been shown to have major conflicts of interest.

All Hail the New President of the Institute of Medicine

In 2010, we posted about a student protest of the salaries of some top administrators at Duke University, including then Chancellor of Health Affairs Dr Victor Dzau, at a time when the university was undergoing financial difficulties.  We pointed out that Dr Dzau's income was further increased by compensation received as a member of the boards of directors of multiple corporations, and further that serving as a highly paid steward of health care companies like Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Genzyme, and Medtronic appeared to be a major conflict of interest.  . 

Last week Dr Victor Dzau was hailed as the new president of the Institute of Medicine.  The simple version, in Modern Healthcare: