Two University of California at Davis surgeons have been banned from doing human research after they injected bacteria into the head wounds of consenting terminally ill patients without university authorization, according to a letter sent from the school to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
The university ordered Drs. J. Paul Muizelaar and Rudolph J. Schrot to immediately “cease and desist” doing the procedure last fall, according to the letter, dated Oct. 17, 2011, obtained by the Sacramento Bee.
Chancellor Linda P.B. Katehi has ordered a review into the actions of Muizelaar, who is chairman of the department of neurological surgery at UC Davis, and Schrot, an assistant professor.
The lack of approval before conducting human research could jeopardize the school’s federal funding, said Rosamond Rhodes, director of bioethics education at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine.
A spokesperson for the FDA told ABCNews.com it “cannot confirm nor deny the existence of an investigation.”
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