doctor ordered to keep silent ...

[Source: www.smh.com.au/business]

Doctor ordered to keep silent on company's ovarian cancer test
Ben Butler
September 10, 2010

A COURT has banned the prominent cancer expert Michael Quinn from disparaging the ovarian cancer diagnostic test OvPlex, the flagship product of the listed biotech company HealthLinx.

The ban, which lasts until the end of the month, also stops Professor Quinn laying claim to intellectual property rights in OvPlex.

Professor Quinn, a director of the Women's Cancer Foundation and the Ovarian Cancer Institute, has been closely involved with OvPlex and HealthLinx. He sat on the company's scientific advisory committee until 2008, when he resigned.

Federal Court Justice Richard Tracey made the gagging order, to which Professor Quinn has consented, on Tuesday.

Professor Quinn has been ordered not to publish any statements that HealthLinx is not the owner of the intellectual property in OvPlex or that his foundations have an interest in the product.

In addition, he must not publish statements disparaging OvPlex, including that testing of OvPlex was ''based on flimsy evidence'', that ''claims that OvPlex could save hundreds of lives were patently absurd'' or that the product ''needs to be taken off the market until its efficacy is proved''.

HealthLinx alleges Professor Quinn's claims are false and misleading and were made with malice.

In court documents, the company says it has a published study that shows OvPlex performs better than the standard method of detecting ovarian cancer, the CA125 blood test.

And at a hearing before Justice Susan Kenny on September 2, counsel for HealthLinx, Greg Harris, said Professor Quinn did not have an interest in OvPlex.

''The agreement that he signed with us as part of this - of the committee, waives any validity to claim any interest in the development of the product,'' Mr Harris said.

Professor Quinn has yet to file a defence and declined to comment.

The test's usefulness was publicly questioned in July by Professor Quinn; the chief executive of Cancer Australia, Helen Zorbas; and Associate Professor Peter Grant, of the Mercy Hospital for Women in Melbourne.

Yesterday, Professor Quinn's lawyers wrote to BusinessDay asking that his July comments not be republished because of the legal dispute.

BusinessDay has been granted access to affidavits and evidence in the proceedings, which show the stoush came to a head in a letter dated May 9, 2008, that Professor Quinn wrote to the chairman of HealthLinx, Professor Greg Rice.

The letter said development of OvPlex had been a ''joint effort'' between Healthlinx, the Women's Cancer Foundation, ARL (a pathology company, since taken over by Healthscope) and the Mercy Hospital.

In addition, Healthlinx was ''misrepresenting the situation to the public'', Professor Quinn wrote.

''This is most troubling given that the test shall be released shortly, and I understand your company is presently seeking to raise money to support the roll-out of the OvPlex test.''

He said the work of others ''who have fostered this research'' needed to be properly attributed.

''I simply do not accept that this test has not been based in any way on the research and endeavours of others, including me,'' he said.

He resigned from the HealthLinx scientific advisory committee later that month.


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