U RETURNS $11,000 IN GRANTS AFTER DRUG DEATH PAIN RESEARCHER DIED FROM
COCAINE OVERDOSE, MEDICAL EXAMINER SAYS

A dental pain researcher at the University of Minnesota died of a drug
overdose after ordering 140 grams of cocaine over seven years with federal
grant money, a university audit has found.

Dr. Keith Kajander, 38, died April 28 from a cocaine overdose, according to
the Hennepin County medical examiner. Between April 1992 and April 1999,
Kajander, a neuroscientist, logged in 28 shipments of the medical-grade
cocaine hydrochloride for research. A university audit shows that the amount
of cocaine he logged in and the amount used for research do not match.

"A significant amount is not accounted for," said Dick Bianco, assistant
vice president for the university's Academic Health Center.

The size of the discrepancy is unknown because the bookkeeping was
imprecise, Bianco said.

As a result of the audit, the university will return $11,000 to the National
Institutes of Health for the cocaine Kajander ordered using NIH money.
Millions of dollars go to the university for medical research purposes,
Bianco said.

This is the first time the department of dentistry has had to return money
to the NIH, said Dr. Michael Till, dean of the school of dentistry, who has
been in the department 30 years.

No other researcher is being investigated, and there is no indication that
Kajander sold any of the cocaine, Till said.

"I personally talked with Dr. Kajander a couple of days before he died,"
Till said. "This has come as a complete surprise to everyone."

Kajander earned a bachelor's degree in psychology in 1976, a dentistry
degree in 1980 and a Ph.D. in anatomy in 1986, all from the University of
Minnesota.

He studied neuroscience at the National Institutes of Health from 1987 to
1989 in Bethesda, Md. He returned to the University of Minnesota in 1990 as
an assistant professor in the department of oral science in the School of
Dentistry and in the Medical School.

He established an internationally recognized research program in
neuroscience with special emphasis on the mechanisms of nerve injury, pain
and pain control. He was promoted to associate professor with tenure in 1997.

Kajander had a valid federal license from the federal Drug Enforcement
Administration and was authorized to make purchases on the grants for his
research.

He published 29 scientific papers and three book chapters, and co-wrote 51
research projects presented at national and international meetings.

Dick Diercks, executive director of the Minnesota Dental Association, said
he had never heard of a Minnesota dentist dying from a drug overdose.

Bianco will head a task force beginning June 17 to review existing policies
related to the use of controlled substances in research. Specifically, the
task force will look at cross-authorization of the ordering and use of
controlled substances, Bianco said.

"If we had had that before, maybe we would have caught this," Bianco said.

Judith Yates Borger, who covers higher education, can be reached at
jborger@pioneerpress.com or (651) 228-5297.