David A. Kessler, one of the nation's leading public health advocates, says he's been fired as dean of the School of Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, in a move that he says was linked to his efforts to deal with "financial irregularities."
According to an e-mail from Kessler obtained by Wired News, the former commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration was terminated Thursday by UCSF Chancellor J. Michael Bishop.
Following Kessler's email, UCSF released a statement from the chancellor saying Kessler "had left office as Dean," and thanked him "for his energetic service to the university and his substantial achievements." The statement also said UCSF neonatologist Sam Hawgood would serve as interim dean, and an international search for a successor would be initiated "promptly." Spokeswoman Jennifer O'Brien said she could not comment further because it is a personnel matter.
Kessler's brief e-mail, which was sent Friday, said that he had discovered a "series of financial irregularities" at the university shortly after he arrived in 2003.
"The university has characterized me as a whistleblower," he wrote, although he reported the issues to university officials and "endeavored to work with the university ever since to solve these problems."
Kessler has served as a board member of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, which on Wednesday announced the names of five disqualified stem cell grant recipients, including UCSF, following accusations of conflict of interest. There's no indication, however, that Kessler's termination was related to the CIRM flap. He will no longer serve on the CIRM board, because the position was tied to his role as dean of the medical school.
Kessler, who was paid more than $500,000 a year, said in the memo that Bishop asked for his resignation last summer, but Kessler continued to try to solve the financial problems. He said his termination was effective immediately.
It became clear in 2005 that Kessler had ruffled some feathers at UCSF. The San Francisco Chronicle reported that the University of California was reviewing Kessler's office finances and the School of Medicine on the basis of an anonymous complaint about "lavish and irresponsible spending."
At the time, Kessler called the complaint false. He was ultimately cleared by the University.
Kessler, 56, headed the FDA from 1990 to 1997 and was known for taking on the tobacco industry. At the time of his appointment to the UCSF post, the university said Kessler "spearheaded a major investigation that led to the revelation that the tobacco companies not only had known for 50 years that nicotine was an addictive drug, but that the companies had manipulated the levels of nicotine in cigarettes."
Kessler wrote about the investigation in his book A Question of Intent in 2001. Prior to joining UCSF, Kessler was dean of the Yale School of Medicine.
