Washington
Gallup Organization, a nationally known polling company, April 8 filed suit against Tom Scully, administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, for allegedly interfering in the government's contracting process.
Filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, the lawsuit alleges that Scully “engaged in a willful and malicious campaign to violate [Gallup's] constitutional rights of free speech, free association and due process; federal law; and the rules and regulations of the Department of Health and Human Services, of which CMS is a part.”
The lawsuit stems from a survey of hospital performance data — a survey that CMS and the U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality are overseeing. When Gallup's managing partner for health care programs, Robert Nielsen, tried to raise questions about the process through which the two federal agencies chose a survey vendor, Scully allegedly sent threatening e-mails to both Nielsen and Brenda Aquilar, an AHRQ official. In one e-mail, Gallup said, Scully warned Aquilar not to meet with anyone from Gallup. “If you meet with this guy, it will be the last time I ever speak to you about CMS issues,” Scully allegedly wrote.
On the same day that Gallup filed its lawsuit, W.J. “Billy” Tauzin, R-La., chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, announced he was investigating allegations that CMS and AHRQ ignored “conflicts of interest” when choosing a vendor for the hospital survey project. Tauzin sent letters to both Scully and AHRQ's quality director, Carolyn Clancy, requesting information about the survey process.
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