Fla. Hospital Defends Corporate Donation

The Cleveland Clinic hospital, in Weston, Fla., has come under criticism for a $500,000 donation it accepted two years ago from 21st Century Oncology, a Fort Myers, Fla., company that provides radiation therapy to the hospital’s cancer patients, The Wall Street Journal reports. The hospital used the money to establish an oncology professorship in colorectal surgery to support the research of a physician at the hospital.

Under a contract with the company, the hospital sends 60 percent of its patients who need radiation therapy to 21st Century, and both the hospital and the company say they make money off the arrangement.

But hospital and company officials deny there is a connection between the research gift and the patient referrals to the company. Medical ethicists and some health-care lawyers disagree. Competing radiation-therapy providers near the hospital say the donation gives 21st Century an unfair advantage, a charge the hospital and company dispute.

(A paid subscription is required to view this article.)