Leiden hospital's academic status at risk due to shoddy fraud prevention

The Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC) is still not taking sufficient measures to prevent fraud within the hospital and seems to underestimate the consequences it could have. In the worst case, the LUMC could lose its academic status over this, Omroep West and Follow the Money reported based on the conclusions of an investigative committee.

Last year, researchers discovered that systematic fraud had been committed with several research projects within the Leiden academic hospital. An external company had claimed considerable amounts in EU subsidies for research at the Leiden hospital that never actually happened. Research by Omroep West and FTM then revealed that the hospital’s Board of Directors had been aware of the dodgy declarations for some time but did nothing about them. That resulted in the resignation of Pancras Hogendoorn, the dean and vice chairman of the LUMC’s Board of Directors.

The Board of Directors then asked an independent committee to investigate the course of events. It concluded that the hospital had taken hardly any measures to prevent the recurrence of fraud. And the LUMC scientists don’t seem to realize how serious that is or that fraud like this damages the LUMC’s reputation. “Only a few realized that a lack of financial integrity could also mean a lack of scientific integrity,” the committee said in its report.

The committed fraud cannot be seen “as a once-off incident in which a few individuals crossed the line, but as something related to the prevailing morals and mutual relations in the academic hospital,” the committee said. The hospital underestimates the possible consequences of new fraud coming to light. In the worst case, the LUMC could lose its academic status, jeopardizing the entire medical faculty.

A spokesperson for the LUMC told NOS that the hospital takes the report and its recommendations seriously. “Various actions and measures have now been initiated, and further elaboration is underway,” the spokesperson said. “The picture that emerges from the research is, therefore, to a certain extent, outdated.” The hospital administrators are aware that they need to do more to prevent future fraud. “These types of measures take time to achieve the desired effect.”