Med school fires ex-FDA commish

Ex-FDA chief David Kessler got the boot at University of California-San Francisco, where he has been dean of the medical school since 2003. In an e-mail announcing his impending departure, Kessler said he'd pointed out financial irregularities to university officials; the school tagged him as a whistle-blower and asked him to leave, Kessler wrote.

The "financial irregularities" were figures he was given when UCSF was trying to recruit him from Yale in 2003. Those numbers showed dean's office funds of $71.8 million for 2007-2008. But when Kessler had the med school's books audited, the fund actually was projected at $31.9 million in the red by 2007-2008. Kessler complained; his relations with university officials grew strained; and finally the school's chancellor asked him to resign. He'll stay on as a faculty member.

- here's more from USA Today
- read details about the saga in the Washington Post

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