Chapter 50: A-Bio (5)
Lee Jun-Hyuk, the hospital director of Sunyoo Hospital, was having tea with Shim Sung-Yeol in his office.
To him, the hospital was a business. In that sense, Sunyoo Hospital was succeeding, and it was because of a rare genius scientist named Ryu Young-Joon. Succeeding in clinical trials was a bonus factor for hospitals. It made the hospital more famous by giving it the reputation that it was the first to cure a difficult disease. After succeeding in the glaucoma trial, Sunyoo Hospital received a lot of investments from several places, and it became the first place that patients with eye conditions came to.
“I’m glad the hospital is doing well,” Shim Sung-Yeol said.
“It’s all because you looked after us,” Professor Lee Jun-Hyuk said with a chuckle.
Shim Sung-Yeol had a political connection with Lee Jun-Hyuk for a long time.
Sunyoo Hospital was a huge university hospital; they didn’t just treat patients, but also conducted research and education. Despite their lack of significant results, Sunyoo University received 19.2 billion won in government funding in the last eight years as they were selected as a research-oriented hospital.
Behind their funding was Shim Sung-Yeol; he was one of the directors of the Sunyoo Social Welfare Foundation, which supported Sunyoo Hospital. It was a public interest foundation and was supporting Sunyoo Hospital, but Shim Sung-Yeol actually benefited more from it than them. It seemed obvious that it was going to be that way with the Alzheimer’s clinical trial as well.
Ring!
The office phone rang.
“Please excuse me.”
Lee Jun-Hyuk picked up the phone.
“This is Lee Jun-Hyuk. Yes. Yes.”
He frowned a little.
“... Yes, I will be there right away.”
After hanging up the call, he glanced at Shim Sung-Yeol like there was a problem.
“What is it?” Shim Sung-Yeol asked.
“I think I might have to head out for a moment... But it’s nothing. The professor in charge of the clinical trial wants to see me for a little bit. I will be back soon.”
For some reason, Lee Jun-Hyuk looked like he was carrying a lot of worries as he quickly ran out of the office.
Shim Sung-Yeol just stared at the office door that Lee Jun-Hyuk closed on his way out.
* * *
“Was there any lobbying or request involved in Park Joo-Nam’s participation in the clinical trial as well? For example, an employee from the Stem Cells Department at A-Gen. Please be honest with me,” Young-Joon said.
“I do not know anything about that,” Koh In-Guk replied. “The only case where there was external pressure in the participant selection process was from Congressman Shim Sung-Yeol.”
“I am asking because I think that Shin Young-Yeon, a Scientist from A-Gen’s Stem Cell Department, knows Park Joo-Nam, the patient who was excluded.”
“I do not know. Park Joo-Nam only came with her husband to volunteer.”
“Hm.”
Young-Joon crossed his arms.
‘Does Shin Young-Yeon have nothing to do with it?’
Park Joo-Hyuk, who was beside him, said, “They could have just gone to the Stem Cell Department for the clinical trial, met Shin Young-Yeon, and she just brought them to you. Or they knew each other before, but she just told them how to volunteer.”
Young-Joon nodded his head.
“Maybe. I guess I was too sensitive.”
Click.
The conference room door opened, and a professor who looked like he was in his fifties or sixties appeared. It was Lee Jun-Hyuk, the hospital director.
“Why, Doctor Ryu, hello. Thank you for coming all the way here. You should have called us before.”
Lee Jun-Hyuk approached Young-Joon with a smile, acting like they were friendly.
“It is not that far. It’s ten minutes by car.”
“Haha, is it?”
“That was why I gave the clinical trial to this hospital, since it is convenient to provide fresh iPSCs or nerve cells and technical support. Do you know what I mean? It means that there is no reason for me to insist on this hospital as the investigation institution other than the fact that it is in a convenient location.”
“... I heard that you were angry about the patients being changed,” Lee Jun-Hyuk said as cold sweat dripped down his neck. “Did you know Park Soo-Nam?”
“It’s Park Joo-Nam.”
“Yes, Park Joo-Nam. Haha, my apologies. We must have made a mistake; we didn’t know that they were important to you... We will fix this right away.”
“Important to me?”
Young-Joon frowned.
“All those patients are important to me! What are you talking about? Do you think I am doing this because of some personal relationship? Selecting patients subjectively is data manipulation, you know that, right? I am bringing this up because I want this clinical study to be strictly controlled.”
Lee Jun-Hyuk looked like he realized he made a mistake, then tried to laugh it off.
“Now, now. Please relax, Doctor Ryu. Would it be such a big problem that one patient out of eight were switched? They are all Alzheimer’s patients after all.”
“I am the principal investigator, and the paper will have my name as the first author. The data that will be included in that paper will be manipulated. Even if you or Professor Koh are included as co-authors, the final responsibility comes down to me. Do you think I can relax?”
“How can you call this data manipulation? It's a small issue, and you are overreacting. Hahaha. We can just say that the person we randomly selected was Congressman Shim Sung-Yeol’s mother in the first place.”
“Wait!”
Lee Jun-Hyuk urgently grabbed Young-Joon’s arm.
“S-Sir, wait. We wrote a contract to hold the clinical trial here and everything. You can’t do this...”
“The primary investigator said he was going to resign, too,” Young-Joon said.
Lee Jun-Hyuk turned to Koh In-Guk in surprise. Koh In-Guk confirmed it with a serious face.
“I will resign. My pride has been hurt too much over this incident, and I feel ashamed at the work I am doing here.”
“...”
“Goodbye. I won’t be giving clinical trials to Sunyoo Hospital anymore.”
Young-Joon said goodbye to Lee Jun-Hyuk and left with Park Joo-Hyuk.
On the way back to A-Gen, Park Joo-Hyuk glanced at Young-Joon, who was lost in thought. His hands were trembling lightly.
“Hey. You went in there like a bulldozer, but... You overdid it, didn’t you?”
“...”
“You did good.”
“Thanks.”
“Hey, but I have something to ask you.”
“Why did you bring me? You can take care of it by yourself.”
“Just in case we fought about legal problems.”
“So I was your law robot.”
“And I need someone to stop me if I get too heated.”
* * *
Young-Joon called the Stem Cells Department and talked with Shin Young-Yeon on the phone. She actually had no relationship with the old couple. All she did was tell them how to apply and fill out their application form. She also said that she told them multiple times that they could not be selected. They only came to Young-Joon after they were absurdly removed from the trial afterward even though they were selected as participants.
—I did not break research ethics! How could I dare to come see you if I did that? You have no compromise about that.
“Right?
—Of course. At A-Gen, your personality and attitude toward research is like what you’d see in textbooks. If I got the participants selected by lobbying, it would be suicide to come see you.
“Alright. Could you please give me the couple’s contact information?”
—Contact information?
“Yes. I want to visit them.”
Young-Joon got their contact information and made time on his weekend to go to the old couple’s house. There were rows of worn-out, ragged houses in the suburb. The old, dark streets and dirty roads reminded him of his parents’ house in Daejeon. Young-Joon brought them to an apartment he got near Jungyoon University, and they were going to move in soon, but they still lived there.
“...”
Kang Hyuk-Soo, who was standing in the living room, which also was the kitchen, looked very disheartened.
“Sorry, I don’t have anything to offer you...”
Kang Hyuk-Soo handed Young-Joon a glass of water.
“Your wife will be able to participate in the clinical trial.”
Kang Hyuk-Soo’s face lit up when he heard Young-Joon.
“Thank you!”
“There is no need to thank me. I didn’t do anything. She was randomly selected.”
“Still, thank you.”
“But the clinical trial investigation institution will change, so it will take longer than planned.”
“... Is that so?”
“Don’t worry too much. She will get better quickly when the treatment starts. But I think it will be hard for you to take care of her alone until then, so why don’t you get a caregiver?”
“I did look into it. The hospital said that without a professional caregiver, it’s easy for people with Alzheimer’s as advanced as her to get sepsis or something, and they said that she had to be admitted into a nursing home to be properly taken care of.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes, but it was too expensive. I live paycheck to paycheck from my job as a taxi driver. How could I afford something like that? Even the health insurance doesn’t work because of something about my wife.”
“... I would like to help you, but large sums of money or valuables should not be exchanged between clinical trial personnel.”
“Haha, it’s alright. I did not tell you so that you could help me. I’m just grateful that you developed a drug like that.”
Young-Joon grinned. “She will get better, I promise. Don’t worry about the selection process and have hope.
“Yes, thank you. Thank you so much.”
Young-Joon left the house as the old man bowed to him multiple times. He stopped in front of Kang Hyuk-Soo’s front door. After checking that he went back inside, Young-Joon slipped a little envelope in his mailbox. It was some money for him to be able to use a professional caregiver or go into a nursing home until the clinical trial.
It was funny and bitter, but one of the most powerful disease suppressors in the world was money. In the bounds of science, that determined treatment and survival.