The atmosphere of the pathology department of the hospital has been uneasy for a while. Last March, newspaper De Limburger spoke to various people involved and reported that Zur Hausen had been accused of “misconduct, abuse of power, manipulation, intimidation, systematic bullying and thwarting careers”, predominantly by resident doctors. According to the newspaper, numerous resident doctors had “fled, been fired, or collapsed with a burn-out” over the last several years.
Those complaints had previously been submitted to the registration committee for medical specialists (RGS) of the Royal Dutch Medical Association (RDMA), which assesses whether programmes training specialists comply with the rules. This led to further investigation at the start of the year, after which the RGS took the preliminary decision to suspend the accreditation of the pathology programme at the Maastricht hospital.
Last Thursday, a spokesperson for MUMC+ told De Limburger that Zur Hausen had resigned his position “by mutual agreement” with the Executive Board, and that he will “focus on his scientific research” for the foreseeable future.
Dean Schols confirmed to Observant that Zur Hausen will carry out that research at FHML. That has been the case anyway these last few months, despite the fact that the professor had been placed on ‘compulsory leave’ by the hospital in January. “He has been able to continue his research and education activities from home.”
Unlike at the hospital, according to Schols, the faculty “has received no signals or reports from staff members or students” of misconduct by Zur Hausen, who has been working at Maastricht since 2010. The dean sees “no cause to start an investigation” into the professor or his department. The hospital did choose to start an investigation into the situation in the department headed by Zur Hausen, which is currently in the “concluding phase”, a spokesperson for MUMC+ told Observant.
Although he will retain his professorship, since the start of May, Zur Hausen is no longer the chair of the pathology research department at FHML. Resigning his position as head of department at the hospital automatically meant resigning his position as domain chair, said Schols.
According to De Limburger, at the same time as Zur Hausen, Veronique Winnepenninckx, first instructor for the pathology department at the MUMC+ and likewise a lecturer at FHML, was also placed on ‘compulsory leave’. Schols was unable to say whether she can retain her position at FHML. “I am not sufficiently up to date on her situation.” The MUMC+ spokesperson also declined to comment “for privacy reasons”.