Grassley: Med school doctor paid millions

MADISON, Wis., Jan. 18 (UPI) -- A surgeon at the University of Wisconsin-Madison received millions of dollars from a medical device company, Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, says.

Grassley claimed in a letter to university President Kevin Reilly that Dr. Thomas Zdeblick received more than $19 million from Medtronic between 2003 and 2007, the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reported. Zdeblick, who heads the orthopedics department at the medical school, acknowledged three years ago that Medtronic was paying him $400,000 a year.

In an e-mail to the newspaper, Zdeblick said the money cited by Grassley was royalty payment for patents on devices he helped develop.

The university requires professors at the medical school to report income from medical companies. But they do not need to give precise amounts, only a range of incomes with the top end $20,000 or more, the newspaper said.

Grassley, the ranking Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, has been investigating conflicts of interest involving payments to doctors by pharmaceutical and medical device companies.