U.S. Fines Northwestern $3M, Claiming Cancer Researcher Billed For Family Trips

Northwestern University agreed to pay the United States $2.93 million under allegations that the university allowed a researcher to bill federal grants for family trips, meals and hotels, the U.S. Attorney’s Office announced today.

“Allowing researchers to use federal grant money to pay for personal travel, hotels, and meals, and to hire unqualified friends and relatives as ‘consultants’ violates the public trust and federal law,” U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois Gary Shapiro said in a press release.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the National Institutes of Health, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office opened an investigation into the university after a former employee filed a civil lawsuit in 2009. Melissa Theis, who worked for the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Center for Cancer in Chicago, will receive $498,100 in settlement proceeds for her role as a whistleblower, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.

To stay up to date on this and other Evanston news, sign up for our free newsletter, like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.

According to the settlement, Northwestern allowed former Lurie Cancer Center researcher Charles L. Bennett to submit improper claims for reimbursement from federal grants between January 2003 and August 2010. Bennett billed the National Institutes of Health for such expenses as family trips, meals and hotels for himself and friends, as well as “consulting fees” for unqualified friends and family members, including his brother and cousin, according to the settlement.

Northwestern University spokesperson Alan Cubbage said in a statement that the settlement "involves no findings or admissions of wrongful conduct by Northwestern."

"The university was nonetheless disappointed to see the allegations in the complaint because they are at odds with the university's commitment to a culture of compliance in the administration of federal research grants," Cubbage said. "Northwestern takes its grant administration responsibilities seriously, and fully cooperated with the government's investigations of these allegations in an effort to demonstrate their inconsistency with its institutional values."

Northwestern University agreed to pay the $2.93 million within 14 business days, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. 

"The university has elected to settle the case rather than engage in protracted litigation that would divert time and resources from its primary missions of education and research," Cubbage said in the statement.

Shapiro said that the settlement, along with the willingness of an employee to serve as a whistleblower, would hopefully deter future abuses of federal funds.

“When it doesn’t, federal grant recipients who allow the system to be manipulated should know that we will aggressively pursue all available legal remedies,” he said.

Bennett’s federally funded research projects at the Lurie Cancer center involved the study of bone marrow cancer drugs, a rare blood disorder and quality of care for cancer patients.