Tag Archives: Moffitt Cancer Center

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Tampa Bay Times: Moffitt Cancer Center China ties investigation

Top Moffitt Cancer Center doctors failed to disclose payments from China, report says

TAMPA — For years, Dr. Alan List and Dr. Sheng Wei worked closely at Moffitt Cancer Center to find cures and build bridges. Their accomplishments included a new therapy to treat a class of cancers affecting the bone marrow and blood, and a 12-year partnership with a top cancer hospital in Wei’s native China.

“As a team, we just click,” List, the Moffitt CEO, told an in-house publication in 2018. “Dr. Wei and I complement each other in ways that are hard to put into words.”

Now, according to a report obtained Saturday by the Tampa Bay Times, their collaboration — and their strong links to China — are at the center of a flap that recently cost them their jobs, put Moffitt’s reputation at risk and ignited an investigation by the Florida Legislature.

Justine Griffin chronicled Moffitt Cancer Center’s China interference investigation for months for the Tampa Bay Times. Read more of her work here:

Moffitt Cancer Center shakeup: CEO and others resign over China ties

Florida House speaker calls for investigation into China-Moffitt ties

Moffitt turmoil began with national concern over China, stolen research

University of Florida also a target in foreign research scandal

Top Moffitt Cancer Center doctors failed to disclose payments from China, report says

Moffitt’s push for state money is clouded by China investigation

Moffitt returns $1 million to state. Money was linked to scientist with China ties.

UCF takes hot seat as House panel widens investigation into China ties

FBI official addresses China influence investigations at Moffitt Cancer Center, UF

As coronavirus spread, Moffitt Cancer Center’s China scandal faded

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Tampa Bay Times: A stem cell transplant with a twist. ‘They are connected in so many ways’

Nicki Kremer, right, poses with her mother, Madelyn Balitz, at Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa when Kremer was in her 20s. Kremer was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia when she was 24. But today, at age 38, she’s in remission, thanks to a stem cell donation from a stranger who lived in Kentucky. [Photo courtesy of Nicki Kremer]

By Justine Griffin for the Tampa Bay Times

It’s been years since they met, but Nicki Kremer and Richard Davis remember every detail.

Kremer, a college student at the time, and her family were waiting at Tampa International Airport for Davis to arrive from Kentucky. Her hair was still short from the chemotherapy.

They knew Davis went by a nickname, “Bubby.” Then he appeared, wearing cowboy boots and holding his daughter.

“Nicki and Bubby looked at each other for the first time, and they just knew,” recalls Madelyn Balitz, Kremer’s mother. “We stood there in the airport crying. They walked out hand-in-hand. They are connected in so many ways.”

It’s been 14 years since Kremer spent months inside the Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, unsure if she’d ever find a bone marrow donor who could save her life.

Now 38, she’s in remission, thanks to the stranger from Kentucky who donated stem cells for a transplant. And in just a few months “Bubby” will give her something else.

He’ll officiate at her wedding.

Read more here.

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Tampa Bay Times: At Moffitt, a push to ease cancer’s toll in the workplace

By Justine Griffin

Cathy Bishop, a retired teacher and assistant principal in Hillsborough County, is in remission after treating stage IV colon cancer at Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa. The disease affected key decisions about her career and retirement. [Photo courtesy of Moffitt Cancer Center]

Cathy Bishop worked as a teacher and assistant principal at Hillsborough County schools for nearly 35 years when she found out she had colon cancer.

Diagnosed after a routine colonoscopy, she had to make a tough decision about how she was going to let the disease impact her career. She would rely on the health insurance offered to her through the school district to pay for medical bills that stacked up because of chemotherapy and surgery. But ultimately, Bishop chose to work through her diagnosis and treatment plan instead of taking medical leave.

“My retirement is a teacher’s pension, which is half a salary. Basically, not much,” Bishop said. “I have two sons, and one of them was in law school at the time. I had to make a decision that was best for my family.”

Bishop told her story Monday to a room full of professionals from some of the Tampa Bay region’s largest employers. Tech Data, Port Tampa Bay, the YMCA and the city of Orlando government were just a few of the organizations in the audience at the Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa. Moffitt hosted its first ever “Employer Forum,” where doctors and administrators shed light on the cost of cancer and its huge impact on the workforce. They also proposed a new way of collaborating with insurers to make treatments more affordable for patients like Bishop.

“It’s a topic that’s hardly ever mentioned in the workplace, but the employer plays a big role in terms of support for the patient and their family,” said Dr. Louis Harrison, chief partnership officer at Moffitt and one of several physicians who shared stories about how difficult it can be for patients to balance work and cancer.

“Just recently I was treating a patient with neck and head cancer who was worried a test was going to take too long,” he said. “He told me he had to get back to work or else they were going to be angry with him. What a predicament.”

Read more here.