Jack arrived for the meeting with Helen Morales a few minutes early. He barely had enough time to leaf through an outdated hospital administration journal when Helen’s assistant stepped out from behind her desk and escorted him into the her office. Helen, who was seated behind an ornate antique desk, stood up and met him in the center of the room.
She shook his hand. “Thank you for coming.”
She then gestured to the other side of the office and led him over to a richly carpeted adjoining area that contained a racetrack-shaped conference table and an oak bookcase. A curved bay window provided a spectacular view of the coastline.
Jack had just taken a seat when the door again opened. Madison and Sinclair entered the office together.
“I hope I’m not late,” she said, sitting down directly across from Jack.
Taking the chair next to Helen, Sinclair said nothing.
“You’re right on time,” Helen assured her. “I wanted the four of us to get together, so we might discuss Hollis’s parvovirus theory. I was a little taken back when you announced your possible discovery at the noon conference. I wasn’t aware we were seeking any outside opinions.”
“You mean apart from Dr. Wyatt’s?” he responded with a note of sarcasm in his voice. “We are in the middle of a national emergency. As a department chief, I naturally assumed I had both the authority and academic freedom to discuss these cases with any colleague whom I felt might help shed some light on finding a cure.”
“Of course you do, Hollis. I just would have preferred to have been briefed on your conversation with Dr. McPherson before the conference.” With arched eyebrows, she added, “I suspect Carmella Lewis and her colleagues in the infectious diseases department share my sentiments.”
“With all due respect, Dean Morales, either we have a transparent system regarding academic freedom or we don’t, and if—”
She raised her hand in restraint. “I think academic freedom at Southeastern State University, while interesting, is a conversation for another time. At the moment, we have important matters to discuss and limited time to do so, so perhaps we should move on.”
Jack had to push his lips together to avoid grinning. Helen had just done a nifty job of dealing with a difficult faculty member. Perhaps Sinclair hadn’t learned it as yet, but diplomacy was an essential part of being an effective department head.
Helen reached for a white legal pad and slid it in front of her. Uncapping her silver fountain pen, she said, “I’m very intrigued by your theory, Hollis. I’d like to hear more of the details.”
Drumming the glass tabletop, he said, “As I’ve mentioned in conference, I’m convinced GNS is being caused by a new strain of parvovirus.”
“There are many strains of parvovirus, but to my knowledge, there’s only one that infects humans, and that’s the B-19 strain,” Madison said.
“That’s old information. Right now as we sit here, groundbreaking research is being conducted that will show new strains of parvovirus do exist, and that they can infect humans.”
With a slight shake of her head, Madison said, “I’m pretty compulsive about keeping up with the most current scientific journals, and I haven’t seen anything about that.”
“It’s cutting-edge work. It will be months before the results of this research appear in any of the medical journals. If doctors waited until every medical breakthrough appeared in a scientific journal, they’d all be twelve to eighteen months behind the most recent advances.”
Helen said, “I’d like to hear more details about these studies.”
Sinclair pressed his palms together. “Dr. McPherson advised me there are several studies ongoing in Canada and Europe which have identified two new strains of parvovirus that infect humans. There’s a group in Leuven, Belgium, who has taken the research one step further and is working on a plan to treat these new strains.” Sinclair moved forward in his chair. “I called the principal investigator, Jacques Aaron. He firmly agrees with the group in Canada regarding the existence of these two new strains.”
“Did you speak with the group in Canada?” Helen asked.
“Of course. They believe these strains are treatable with Vitracide, which is an FDA-approved antiviral drug.”
“They think? I’m quite familiar with Vitracide,” Madison was quick to point out. “It’s recommended only for severe viral infections.”
With a smug grin, he responded, “I think GNS would fall into that category.”
“Are you aware that Vitracide can be extremely toxic to the heart muscle of both mother and baby?”
“Of course I’m aware. I feel quite well versed regarding all aspects of the drug.”
“In that case, I’m sure you know that this toxicity has been scientifically documented and is not based on guesswork or half-completed research.”
With a face now filled with boredom and annoyance, he said, “All drugs have side effects, Madison. What’s your point?”
“Do I really need to answer that?”
“Let’s stay calm,” Helen suggested. “I’d like to go off in another direction, Hollis. Can you offer an explanation why, with one exception, GNS appears to affect only pregnant women?”
“Viruses flourish in different environments. Obviously, there’s something unique about pregnancy that makes these women vulnerable. Maybe the virus was already present in a dormant state and became activated for some unknown reason—a situation similar to shingles perhaps.” He exhaled sharply and added, “We’re embarking upon new ground here. We can’t be held hostage by conventional, uninspired thinking. Without going into great detail at this time, I will tell you that I expect to have irrefutable proof that GNS is being caused by a parvovirus in a matter of days. The moment I do, I’ll make a national plea that every woman stricken with this catastrophic illness be urgently treated with Vitracide.” Sinclair made a grand gesture to look at his watch and then started to stand up. “I’m sorry but you’ll have to excuse me. I have another commitment. I think we should all bear in mind that the more time we spend on unproductive meetings, the more time we take away from helping our patients. Left untreated, I assure you GNS will make SARS and H1N1 flu look like a mild case of the sniffles.”
Without waiting for a response, he turned and left the room. Jack’s gaze shifted to Madison. Her eyes were flinty from anger.
Helen was the first to speak. “I already know how you feel, Madison. Jack, you’re a nationally recognized expert on uncommon neurologic diseases. Do you think GNS is being caused by a virus?”
“I’m not an infectious diseases expert, but from what I’ve been able to gather to this point, I’d say it’s unlikely.”
“I know you’ve only been here a short time and that you didn’t want to say anything speculative at the conference today, but do you have even an inkling of what might be causing GNS?”
“I’m sorry, I don’t.”
They spoke for a few more minutes. When they were finished, Helen escorted Jack and Madison back to her outer office. Helen’s silence did little to conceal her frustration. Jack sensed she was disappointed he hadn’t a clue what was causing GNS.
Walking back to the ICU, he wondered if Helen Morales was developing second thoughts about inviting him to Southeastern State.