Dr. Polly Would Have Been Delighted to Disclose?

So he claimed recently on MPR:

Polly, a spine surgeon in the university's Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, received more than $1 million over five years to consult with medical device maker Medtronic, based in Fridley.

Grassley said the doctor never mentioned that link when he testified to Congress in 2006 about a Defense Department program with ties to the company. Polly only said he was speaking on behalf of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons.

The senator also said in his letter he was 'alarmed' to learn that Polly later billed Medtronic - not the AAOS - for the costs of that trip to Washington, D.C.

But Polly said it didn't appear there was a forum or venue to make such disclosures that day.

"If there had been, certainly I would have been delighted to disclose," he said. [This was in 2006*] "And if I was asked to testify before Congress tomorrow or currently, I would probably do things differently to be a little more clear about who I have financial ties with."

(*June 5, 2009 - From the New York Times:

"Dr. Kuklo, who moved into a $2.1 million home near St. Louis, was not the first departing Walter Reed doctor to get a consulting deal from Medtronic. For instance, it had struck an arrangement with Dr. Kuklo’s former boss, Dr. David W. Polly Jr., when he left the military hospital in 2003.

Dr. Polly is now one of Dr. Kuklo’s staunchest public defenders. Recently, Dr. Polly blocked a reporter’s request that the University of Minnesota, where he now works, release his financial disclosure statement showing how much he made from Medtronic."

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Delighted to disclose?

(or Driven to Dissemble?)