Profs fight for control of on-line cancer information

A dispute over policy and power has left an important source of information in limbo. Oncolink, the first on-line cancer information service, has been in the spotlight since the roles of its directors were altered last month. Loren Buhle, assistant professor of physics in radiation oncology, has allegedly been abusing his power as a co-editor-in-chief of Oncolink by posting materials and responding to electronic mail without providing his colleagues with the opportunity to review the material. Because Buhle does not have a medical degree, the validity of this material has been challenged by Oncolink co-editors Radiology Oncology Assistant Professor Joel Goldwein and Gynecologic Oncology Assistant Professor Ivor Benjamin. The University administration has supported Goldwein and Benjamin on the issue, and Buhle -- who originally held the executive power in the project -- has now been demoted to the same stature as the other co-editors. But Buhle feels that this is not an issue of credentials, but of censorship. He said he is currently searching for employment. "What has happened to freedom of speech at this hallowed institution?" Buhle asked yesterday. "People want to read uncensored news at their own leisure, which is what Oncolink had been providing." Although he recognizes that the University's name is on the program, Buhle said he feels it will ultimately be the patients who suffer from the alleged censorship. "There is controversy everywhere in the medical field -- what's appropriate for you is your decision," he added. "You have to live, or die, with what you decide." The controversy began in December, when Benjamin and Goldwein objected that Buhle's supervision of Oncolink went completely unchecked. They felt all information released to the public deserved a review by the three co-editors, and requested equal access to the computer. "He was able to post medical content bypassing the editorial process," Goldwein said. "The only thing taken away from him is his right to shut us out. "Twenty-five to 30 million people access this system. One wrong, misleading or not qualified piece of information can be very harmful," he added. Provost Stanley Chodorow said the redistribution of power was in the best interests of the University. "This is a University of Pennsylvania operation, and it should represent what the faculty feels is good science," Chodorow said. "I don't think censorship is the issue. It is like accusing the press of refusing to publish something it didn't feel was sound. "These are legitimate judgements, not censorship," he added. Benjamin agreed. "If [Buhle] set up Loren-Link in his own basement, he would have complete control without having to answer to anyone," he said. "That is not the case when the material is an edited resource coming from the University of Pennsylvania." Oncolink, created in March 1994 at the University, is the first multimedia oncology information resource placed on the Internet. The service recently won "Best Web of 1994." Postings on Oncolink -- a World Wide Web server -- include cancer oriented news, psychosocial support systems, other support groups and cancer organizations. Buhle said he first took interest in this subject when his eight year-old daughter was diagnosed with leukemia. Daily Pennsylvanian Staff Writer Katie Haegele contributed to this article.