Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Letter to the editor:

Why choose now to question Berkley?

Was Rep. Shelley Berkley’s effort to save the University Medical Center kidney transplant program a conflict of interest with her husband’s medical practice? Her actions may have been questionable because her husband’s medical practice probably did benefit, but was what she did unethical? Consider that without the intervention of Berkley and the other two members of the Nevada congressional delegation, folks in Nevada would have been left without any kidney transplant options in the state.

In 2008, this state’s only kidney transplant center was in danger of closing due to lack of financing. UMC reached out to Berkley in an attempt to receive more Medicare funding to keep the program alive. The other two Nevada representatives, then-Rep. Jon Porter and then-Rep. Dean Heller, both Republicans, supported Berkley in her effort.

So her intentions were good and her actions don’t rise to the level of being unethical. The facts belie that charge. If anything, she was more egalitarian than unethical. Her work helped a large number of health providers, not just her husband. But what is more important, her actions helped save lives.

So the real question is: Why, after four years, has this now become a political issue?

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