University of Washington doctor Warren Guntheroth didn’t mince words Read more about his fight with the UW in this article in the Seattle Times.
Dr. Warren G. Guntheroth MD passed away Monday, September 17 after suffering a heart attack at his office at University Hospital. Warren was an example of UW’s great tradition of patient care .. one of the pioneers in prevention of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). He was also a courageous critic of UW administration’s abuses of power, standing up for faculty rights. I was a beneficiary of Warren;s courage when he helped me defend myself against abuse by a UW Provost who tried to force me to perjure myself.
Warren was born in 1927 to working-class parents and grew up in Depression-era Oklahoma. He attended Harvard College and Medical School on an academic scholarship.
Dr. Guntheroth joined the faculty of the University of Washington in 1957, founded the department of Pediatric Cardiology, and becmae a full professor in 1969. He is best known as first American to publish a paper calling for the “back to sleep” position for infants, preventing thousands of deaths from SIDS each year.
Warren was also a courageous fighter for faculty rights. After the UW’s medical center was fined $35 million penalty in 2004 for overbilling Medicare and Medicaid. While medical school dean Paul Ramsey claimed the fine was the result of “innocent mistakes,” the School cooperated with the prosecutors to blame three UW professors. All of these had their names dragged through the mud of public media and forced to leave the UW . Warren, largely on his own, publicly blamed the dean of the medical school for the scandal.
A special review panel called it an “embarrassing” episode in which red flags were ignored.
After this “coming out,” the School questioned Warren’s competence as a cardiologist, hired outsiders to assess how he treated heart patients, and ordered other UW doctors to review his work. Warren fired a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission claiming “humiliation and harassment.”
UW officials said the medical school was subjecting Dr. Guntheroth was oversight aimed at protecting patients and claimed that Warren Guntheroth’s public criticisms had no bearing on the scrutiny of him,
Perhaps the UW stand was correct, but I know from personal experience that the UW administration in that era did take exactly the sort of actions described by my colleague Warren. I was investigated and audited because the UW wanted to block me from testifying in defense of an employee. That story may be posted on THE Ave another time, but for now I owe a lot to this brave man.
A memorial celebration for Warren Guntheroth will be held at the University of Washington Club, Sunday October 28, from 3 pm to 5:30 pm. For directions go to http://www.uofwashingtonclub.