Pascal J. Goldschmidt

Goldschmidt helped establish the University of Miami's public database disclosing conflicts of interest for all faculty at the Miller School of Medicine. However, the information in the database ceased to be updated after December 2011.[6] An article evaluating public disclosure of outside income by medical school deans reported that Goldschmidt did not publicly disclose stock options from OPKO and MEDNAX, two companies where he served on the board of directors in 2009.[7][8] In a 2010 proxy statement,[9] MEDNAX disclosed that until September 2009, Dr. Medel, the company's chief executive officer, served on the Trustee Services Committee for the University of Miami and participated in setting performance goals and annual bonus allocations for University of Miami employees, including Goldschmidt. It was claimed that the 2010 version of the reporting system did not allow the disclosure of unexercised stock options from the period from 1 June 2010 to 31 May 2011, an option which was later added in the 2011 version. Goldschmidt's income of $1,713,300 and $605,658 from sale of MEDNAX stocks on 9 May 2014 and 9 March 2015 respective remains undisclosed.[10][11]

Further conflict of interest allegations arose in 2010, when Goldschmidt hired psychiatrist Charles Nemeroff as chair of psychiatry, one year after Nemeroff had been ousted from the same role at Emory University after a probe led by Senator Charles Grassley revealed he had failed to declare at least US$1.2 million in income from drug companies.[12][13] From 1 June 2010 to 31 December 2011, Goldschmidt's outside income from serving on boards of directors was reported as:[6] $50,001-$100,000 from Health Management Associates, $50,001-$100,000 from MEDNAX, over $200,000 from OPKO Health and $10,001-$25,000 from the scientific advisory board at Synecor. Goldschmidt's salary was $1,072,117 in 2009–2010, $1,312,960 in 2010-2011 and $1,447,160 in 2011–2012.[14]

In August 2012, the University of Miami Faculty Senate Ad Hoc committee on medical issues presented its report to UM president, Donna Shalala, and to Dean Pascal Goldschmidt.[15] The committee reported that senior faculty members and high level administrators they had interviewed reported a widespread fear of the administration due to retaliations against faculty who criticized the administration. Interviewees also told the committee that staff reductions had negatively impacted the Miller School faculty's ability to deliver care and to conduct basic and clinical research, and that the pressure to produce clinical income was discouraging and devaluing research, reducing morale, and compromising the academic environment. The committee recommended a formal senate resolution to urge the Miller School and its Faculty Council to address the destructive effects of the absence of a collegial environment.

In January 2013, the Miami Herald reported that around 700 of the 1,200 faculty at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine had signed a petition complaining about the school's leadership.[16] A copy of the petition obtained by the Herald criticised the "failed leadership" of Goldschmidt and chief operating officer Jack Lord, stating that "We want to make clear that the faculty has lost confidence in the ability of these men to lead the school." In a ballot conducted by the university in 2013, a majority of faculty at the Miller School voted against Goldschmidt remaining as Dean, but were overruled by the university's president, Donna Shalala, who decided to retain him.[17]