A jury awarded more than $39 million this week to a former UC San Diego oncologist who has been embroiled in a long-standing legal dispute with the university over a $10 million donation intended for research.
The verdict returned Wednesday stems from dueling lawsuits filed by UCSD and Dr. Kevin Murphy.
The university sued Murphy, alleging he took the $10 million donation from one of his former patients to benefit himself, while Murphy said the money was intended to fund clinical trials for his brain stimulation treatment known as Personalized Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation, or PrTMS.
Murphy alleged the school tried to divert the funds away from his research and retaliated against him when he tried to speak out about it. The university declined to renew his contract in 2020 and Murphy countersued UCSD for wrongful termination and retaliation.
UCSD declined to comment on the jury verdict, which came at the conclusion of a two-month trial.
One of Murphy’s attorneys, Mark Quigley, called his client “the epitome of a whistleblower who had the courage to expose corruption within the institution he dedicated his career to. This verdict reveals the truth behind UCSD’s attempts to retaliate and defame him for simply doing the right thing.”
In his lawsuit, Murphy said former patient Charles Kreutzkamp donated the $10 million just prior his death in 2015.
Murphy alleged that Kreutzkamp was unambiguous about how he wanted the money spent, but the funds were earmarked for other purposes by leadership at UCSD’s Moores Cancer Center. He alleged no clinical trials for PrTMS were conducted in the following years because of university interference and when Murphy was able to have the funds redirected from the cancer center, he was threatened. He alleged that after he was let go by the university, UCSD leaked false information to news outlets as part of a smear campaign against him.
UCSD denied any retaliation and alleged Murphy misappropriated the funds in order to support PrTMS research for the benefit of his own private businesses, which include a clinic and medical software company.
Jurors also awarded UCSD $67,000 for money Murphy earned outside of the university.
–City News Service