Surgeon Wins $10 Million Settlement in UCLA Whistleblower Suit

Yesterday the University of California handed a $10 million settlement to the former chairman of UCLA's orthopedic surgery department. Dr. Robert Pedowitz sued UCLA, the UC Regents, colleagues and university officials for allegedly retaliating against him after he spoke up in 2010 about what he called widespread conflicts of interest involving UCLA doctors' financial ties to medical device companies. UC officials have denied any wrongdoing in the case, and claim there is no evidence that patient care was affected. The university maintains it settled to avoid the cost and inconvenience of further time in court.

Note: We asked UCLA to participate in this discussion but, unfortunately, the University was not able to provide an official by the taping of this interview. It did provide us with the following statement: "UCLA acted fully within the scope of law and UC policy in this case."