The Washtenaw County Prosecutor's Office has taken charge of the case against the University's Chief of Urology Joseph Oesterling.
Oesterling was suspended indefinitely on March 19. He is currently being investigated for financial improprieties involving possible expense account abuses and consulting fees that he received from drug and medical companies, an anonymous source told the Detroit Free Press last month.
Regental Bylaw 5.09 states that "in exceptional cases, which in the judgement of the president, threaten direct and immediate injury to the public reputation or the essential functions of the University, the president may direct that the affected faculty member be relieved of some or all of his or her University duties, ... pending the final disposition of the case."
Bollinger would not comment yesterday on the bylaw or Oesterling's suspension.
Late last week, the Department of Public Safety, which was conducting the investigation, handed the case over to the prosecutor's office, said Chief Associate Prosecutor Joseph Burke.
"We've been given the case by the Department of Public Safety," Burke said. "We will review the report and then decide if criminal charges will be brought up (against Oesterling)."
Burke said he could not elaborate further on the case and cannot estimate how long it will take for him to review the case.
Associate Vice President for University Relations Lisa Baker said University administrators are unable to comment on personnel issues, and she could not comment on the status of Oesterling's suspension.
One of Oesterling's patients, Auburn Hills resident Gordon Dibler, said yesterday that he heard Oesterling is still being allowed to teach classes at the School of Medicine but has been suspended from surgery.
But a colleague of Oesterling's in the urology department said yesterday he could not confirm that Oesterling had returned to work since he had not seen the urology chief in the office during the past month.
Oesterling could not be reached for comment yesterday.
Oesterling, who came to the University from the Mayo Clinic in 1994 to serve as chief of urology and professor of surgery in the School of Medicine, has often been cited as one of the world's leading experts in the field of prostate cancer.
In 1982, Oesterling earned his medical degree from Columbia University's College of Physicians and Surgeons.
Oesterling, director of the Michigan Prostate Institute, led research efforts that produced a new test to better detect prostate cancer. He has also served as a surgeon at Johns Hopkins University.
He was awarded the American Urological Association Prostate Health Council Award in both 1991 and 1992.
Dr. James Montie has served as acting chair of the urology department since the investigation began.