Consulting fees prompt Minn. surgeon's resignation from national board

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Questions about more than $1 million in consulting payments from medical device maker Medtronic to a University of Minnesota spinal surgeon has prompted him to resign from the board of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons.

In a letter dated Aug. 19, Dr. David Polly says he looks forward to the day when there are clear rules for consulting. Until then, he writes, "there are only varying individual opinions of right and wrong."

He writes to the academy's president that media attention to his consulting work has become an unnecessary distraction to the society's efforts, but says he still believes in the need for physician-industry collaboration.

Polly is the middle of a congressional investigation into the financial relationships between doctors and medical device makers.