Staff Editorial: Time to dismiss Wilson

The Food and Drug Administration has informed James Wilson, director of Penn's Institute for Human Gene Therapy, that his explanations for a variety of safety problems and ethical lapses in the 1999 clinical trial that led to the death of Jesse Gelsinger are insufficient.

The FDA's decision is to be applauded. The violations of protocol and ethical breaches of which Wilson stands accused, including the failure to notify patients of the deaths of several lab animals involved in the trial and misleading regulators, cannot be excused -- especially as the flawed trial led to the death of an 18-year-old.

Having rejected his arguments, the FDA can continue proceedings that should eventually deprive Wilson of his ability to perform tests on humans, a move long overdue.

Unfortunately, one thing the FDA cannot do is to prevent Wilson from remaining on the faculty of the University of Pennsylvania.

In spite of his egregious errors and near-total lack of medical ethics, Wilson remains at Penn, both at the head of an emasculated IHGT, which can no longer run human gene therapy trials, and as chairman of the Molecular and Cellular Engineering Department at the School of Medicine.

James Wilson is a failure as a scientist, a researcher and a doctor. His actions have brought the University into disrepute and have left Penn, a one-time leader in the cutting edge field of gene therapy, lagging far behind. As long as he remains in his position here, he will continue to dishonor the University.

There is no place at this University for James Wilson. That the administration continues to support him, and even allowed him to teach undergraduates in a preceptorial last semester, is a disgrace.

It is unfortunate that more than two years after Gelsinger's death, and well after it became clear that the Gelsinger study was deeply flawed, James Wilson remains a member of the faculty of the University.

This is an unacceptable situation. Penn is no place for a man under such a cloud, and his departure is well overdue.

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