University Times

"The meeting took place, the par- ties are talking, and nothing is resolved" — that's how Pitt General Counsel Lewis Popper summarized a Sept. 13 meeting between lawyers for the University and for Bernard Fisher, ousted head of a leading breast cancer study based at Pitt.

U.S. District Court Judge Donald E. Ziegler held the private meeting in his chambers Downtown in the hope of resolving at least some of the issues raised in a lawsuit that Fisher filed in early July. Fisher is seeking reinstatement as head of the National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project (NSABP), the nation's oldest and largest breast cancer research study.

James B. Lieber, one of Fisher, declined to comment on Tuesday's meeting.

The meeting came one day after Pitt filed a motion asking Judge Ziegler to dismiss Fisher's lawsuit.

Fisher contends that Pitt unlawfully forced him to resign as NSABP head on March 29, following newspaper reports that a Montreal researcher's falsified data was included in some NSABP studies. Fisher argues that the University had no right to take over NSABP because the project is an independent organization made up of hundreds of hospitals and other research institutions around the country.

In its motion to dismiss Fisher's lawsuit, Pitt maintains, among other things, that: * Fisher officially went on administrative leave, relinquishing his role as NSABP leader, after the National Cancer Institute (which funds NSABP research projects) notified Fisher and Pitt that "Fisher's services as the head of these research projects was no longer acceptable to the NCI." Fisher remains a full tenured professor; his salary and benefits are unchanged.

* Fisher has no contractual or legal entitlement to control of the NSABP research projects, which belong to Pitt because the University is the official administrator of NSABP and is the recipient of the millions of dollars of federal funding to conduct NSABP research.

* Despite allegations by Fisher that his due process rights were violated by a Pitt research misconduct inquiry, "this inquiry was never completed and has been indefinitely suspended. Any claim of injury from this dormant inquiry is therefore speculative and based upon contingent facts." Fisher is scheduled to present his side of the case at a Sept. 20 hearing in U.S. District Court. Pitt's administration will argue its side on Sept. 26.

— Bruce Steele