Sen. Grassley questions research done by orthopedic surgeon

Sen. Chuck Grassley is continuing to raise questions about research done by orthopedic surgeon David W. Polly Jr., a Medtronic Inc. consultant and chief of the spine service at the University of Minnesota. Grassley wrote to the university's president raising issues of possible conflict of interest on Polly's part in research on a Medtronic bone-growth product called Infuse. Grassley has been raising questions about doctors who also serve as consultants to drug companies and medical-device makers, and raised the issue of whether Polly might not have alternatively chosen to do his research on another bone-growth product made by a competitor.