Scandal at M.D. Anderson -- Operating Loss and Then Watson Deep-Sixed

The second shoe recently dropped at the prestigiousM.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. First there was the news of the large operating loss for the first two months of FY 2017 (see:MD Anderson records $102.4M operating loss in first 2 months of FY 2017) followed by the recent suspension of theOncology Expert Advisor project powered by Watson due to"audit irregularities" (see:Touted IBM supercomputer project at MD Anderson on hold after audit finds spending issues). Below is an excerpt from an article on this subject:A University of Texas System audit has found irregularities involving more than $40 million paid for outside goods and services as part of M.D. Anderson Cancer Center's now stalled effort to enlist IBM supercomputer Watson in the battle against cancer. The audit, posted at the system's website, reported the cancer hospital didn't follow established purchase rules for the project, which executives had ballyhooed would tap Watson's encyclopedic memory and lightning information-processing speed to tailor optimal patient treatment."Because this review was limited to procurement for (Watson), one cannot determine whether the issues noted are unique to this large, complicated project," William McRaven, the UT System chancellor, wrote in a response to the audit..."The irregularities included service agreements that didn't undergo a competitive process, fees consistently set j...
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