Professor Michael Joyner was suspended for a week without pay in March after criticizing the NIH in an interview with CNN
Nearly 30 professors from Ivy League universities wrote a letter to the Mayo Clinic to protest the suspension of a doctor after he openly criticized the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
Professor Michael Joyner, professor of anesthesiology and exercise medicine research, has been with the Mayo Clinic for nearly 63 years.
His colleagues at Harvard, Yale, Columbia, and other universities wrote: “An endangerment of academic freedom will certainly damage Mayo’s reputation among the many who have always viewed Mayo as a model of scholarly integrity.”
dr Joyner is the lead researcher on a federally funded study on convalescent plasma treatments for Covid and athletic performance.
In January said Dr. Joyner said in a CNN article that he was “frustrated” by the NIH’s “bureaucratic rush” and called the agency’s guidelines a “wet blanket” preventing doctors from trying the treatment on humans.
Two months later, on March 5, the Mayo Clinic suspended Dr. Joyner for a week without pay.
He was told in a letter to “discuss only approved topics with reporters” and “stick to the prescribed news.”
He was warned that “behavior changes must be immediate and sustained” and if he failed to do so, he would be fired.
“Confirmed complaints” from employees would also result in Dr. Joyner will lose his job, the Mayo Clinic said, even if they were unrelated to the other problems.
dr Carlos Mantilla, Department Head of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine, said Dr. Joyner failed to communicate according to the prescribed messages.
In that of Dr. Carlos Mantilla, department head of anesthesiology and perioperative medicine at Mayo Clinic, says Dr. Joyner “did not communicate according to the prescribed messages”.
This ‘reflect'[ed] “bad on Mayo Clinic’s brand and reputation” and “causing the facility to wonder if…” [he is] able to adequately represent Mayo Clinic in media interactions.’
The letter of protest stated, “In the prosecution of one of its oldest and most valuable professors, Mayo is sending a terrible message not only to its other faculties but to other academic medical institutions as well.”
dr Nicholas Christakis, a doctor and professor at Yale University who signed the letter, tweeted, “Mayo should be ashamed.” Now how do you know if the doctors there are actually saying what they believe?
He added, “This is duplicity at 1984 levels.”
Andrea Kalmanovitz, a Mayo Clinic spokeswoman, said in a statement to CNN, “Mayo has Dr. Joyner is being fined for disrespecting colleagues and making unprofessional comments about NIH regulation of convalescent plasma.”
It added: “The Mayo Clinic supports academic freedom, as evidenced by the hundreds of interviews Mayo physicians, including Dr. Joyner, give every year.”
CNN contacted Dr. Joyner in November for a story about convalescent plasma, an antibody-rich blood product taken from people who have recovered from Covid, to treat immunocompromised patients with Covid.
Emails provided to CNN show that Dr. Joyner had permission from a Mayo Clinic communications officer prior to participating in the interview.
In January, Dr. Joyner and colleagues published a study showing that transfusions of convalescent plasma could help immunocompromised patients with Covid.
Several other studies have shown that convalescent plasma is ineffective. The NIH’s treatment guidelines state that there is insufficient evidence to recommend for or against the therapy.
dr Joyner and many other doctors from Harvard, Stanford, Johns Hopkins, and Columbia emailed scientists at the NIH, sending them research materials and urging them to revise the guidelines.
dr Mantilla said in his March letter to Dr. Joyner said Mayo Clinic’s public affairs team had raised concerns about his comments in the CNN article.
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