Slate ran a glowing profile on Thursday of Danny Resnic, the origami condom inventor accused of massive fraud and stealing taxpayer funds from the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
The article revealed that Resnic is using $100,000 he received from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to continue tests on his self-proclaimed groundbreaking invention: a condom that folds instead of rolls.
Resnic was able to procure $2.4 million from the NIH even though his only experience was "some product design classes in college," Slate said.
He "didn’t know much about biomedical engineering," but "spent years thinking, sketching, and researching patents."
"In 2001, Resnic bought some wood at Home Depot, carved it into a mold with a jigsaw, sanded it down, dipped it in liquid latex, and created the first prototype of his condom in his home, which was, at the time, a house boat on Marina del Rey," Slate said.
Though Slate highlights Resnic’s passion to recreate the condom, they did not ask him about his other invention ideas. As the Washington Free Beacon reported, a former employee accused Resnic of spending grant money on a myriad of "get-rich-quick" schemes.
His ideas included a reality television show called "Extreme Office Makeover," a "car trunk organizer," "‘green’ recyclable hangers," a "parrot iPhone app," "salad bar lunch container," "Velcro snow straps," and an origami "menstrual cup with expandable capacity." Resnic also had an idea he called "Rounded Corners," which involved adding a curved wall to a room to make it look bigger, and the "Big Bag Theory," a portable shopping cart.
The employee also alleged that Resnic misspent millions of taxpayer dollars on trips to Costa Rica, lavish parties at the Playboy mansion, full-body plastic surgery, and a condo in Provincetown, Mass.
The employee provided hundreds of documents to the Free Beacon supporting his claims. Resnic claimed it was the employee who stole the grant money and sued him, but the case was dismissed.
Slate briefly mentions that Resnic was accused of misusing NIH funds, with a link to the Free Beacon’s report, saying only that he "denies the allegations."
According to an email obtained by the Free Beacon, Resnic said he has to pay back taxpayer funds and is "on the hook" with the NIH for at least $487,377.32.
Nevertheless, Resnic was able to receive $100,000 from the Gates Foundation, which he is using to test his condoms, which he promised to be revolutionary because they were made out of silicone.
Resnic has dropped that idea.
"But building a perfect condom is more complicated than he thought," according to Slate. "He conducted a few small clinical trials of his silicone model with funding from the NIH, and after incorporating feedback from those trials into his design, he decided to take his male condom in a surprising direction: It will now be made out of latex."
"Resnic still hopes to incorporate silicone into an internal condom—meant to be worn inside the vagina or anus, like a female condom—which he’ll be testing in South Africa this spring with his $100,000 from the Gates Foundation," the article said.
Resnic previously used taxpayer dollars to test his condoms on rabbits, who were "sacrificed by lethal injection" after having pieces of the condoms vaginally inserted for five consecutive days.
The availability of New Zealand white rabbits in South Africa is unclear.
The Free Beacon did not attempt to contact Resnic for comment because he considers emails asking for comment from the Free Beacon to be "harassment."