Slashdot Mirror
Michael DeBakey, Consummate Medical Geek, Dead At 99
NIckGorton writes "Dr. Michael DeBakey, the father of modern heart surgery, died this week at age 99. He was integral to the development of pretty much everything in modern cardiovascular surgery: bypass (heart-lung machines that made open-heart surgery possible for the first time), coronary artery bypass surgery (he did the first one ever), carotid endarterectomey (again he performed the first one), the development of Dacron graft blood vessels, and the development of MASH units. He was a consummate geek and numerous surgical instruments bear his name. He was also the first surgeon to videotape surgeries — in the 1960s. He was considered by the NEJM to be the single greatest surgeon alive until two days ago. In his career he performed over 50,000 heart surgeries and practiced medicine (though not surgery) until the day he died. In 2005 he underwent the Debakey procedure, which he pioneered, to treat the aortic dissection he suffered."
You did it!
That man was truly awesome. I don't believe in the Christian god, but I don't believe in a black void either. Wherever he went I hope it's everything he deserves and I pray for that.
What an incredible contribution to science and medical technology. The number of lives that man had affected with his work.
50,000 heart surgeries? That is tireless work. If he started at 30 and worked till the day he died, that is about 2 surgeries a day. He was unable to perform surgery for the last part of his life, so it was more like 3-5 surgeries a day. That's over 50,000 people that got to live longer with their families because of him DIRECTLY. How many other people survived because of his advancements? Millions? probably, and possibly more than that.
This man was truly awesome in every sense of the word, and inspiring to others. Anybody working in any scientific field hopes to make such a contribution to the world.
May he rest in piece.
On first glance I read "Consumable Medical Geek"...
First comment since 2006 and this is what you post?
I had the option of modding you down, but it felt more appropriate to bring this up instead.
Viable Slashdot alternatives: https://pipedot.org/ and http://soylentnews.org/
I found it rather sad (or just perplexing) that his obit was overshadowed by the death of Tony Snow, a journalist.
NBC News (Saturday) didn't even mention him at all, but did have a glowing 3+ piece on Snow.
... and numerous surgical instruments bear his name
Doctor: Ahh, a new surgical instrument. Wonderful. What's it called, nurse?
Nurse: A "Michael"
Doctor: That's going to cause a bit of confusion, mind if we call it a Debakey?
Obviously, he must know something!
Thanks, Slashdot. My post was aimed at Keyseir (968368, poster of the First Post. Seems like clicking Reply to This didn't really go as planned.
Sorry about that. Feel free to mod down.
Viable Slashdot alternatives: https://pipedot.org/ and http://soylentnews.org/
I told him if he kept that up, he'd never make 100. I was right.
"The raging internal struggle between the irresponsible child and the mature adult in him continues until one or the other is finally destroyed completely. As long as a single spark of either remains, the battle goes on. And for as long as man is alive, the quest for maturity keeps on."
Methodist Hospital announced, without specifying the cause of death.
Why do I have a feeling he died from a heart attack?
It is certainly possible. At that age, it isn't uncommon for the major organs to give out. According the summary, he has had trouble with his heart before, so I wouldn't be surprised at all.
Little over a year ago I was almost run over by a Porsche in the Texas Medical Center that looked like it was being driven by the grim specter of geath. Turns out it was DeBakey. I was later told by a friend at Baylor College of Medicine that DeBakey was still practicing when he felt like it! What a stud. 97 years old (at the time), still practicing medicine, and still spry enough to terrorize rogue jay-walkers in his 911. Via con dios, old man.
I bet the guy even had the Healing Touch.
To put in a large perspective, for example, Texas crashed when oil crashed in the late 70's. In response, Texas diversified. DeBakey was one of a small number of people that truly drove that diversification, making Texas not only rich in oil, but rich in more long term wealth like research and cutting edge technology. He worked with innovations around him to help create what is now one of the greatest medical complexes in the world. Surely he worked with many other people, and many other tech workers, but he certainly was one of the people that kept texas from becoming a backwater, like so many other states that has not invested so much in the future.
And speaking of the future, The High School for Health Professions is a public Houston Independent School District high school. It was not built in the suburbs or in the demographically acceptable area, like some special high schools. It used to be located on the ass end on the Texas Medical Center, but when the built it for real they made it accessible to a cross section of students. It is almost 1/3 asian, 1/3 black, and 1/3 Hispanic or white. Whites are low presumably because so few whites live in the area. The school is nearly 50% free or reduced lunch, nearly 10% at risk, which is good for a school where 1/3 of the students are GT and 2/3 are in honors classes. This is not a school where the elite train the elite. This is not a school where the faint of heart go for college prep knowing full well that they have legacy to get them into an ivy league school. This is a school where slightly above average kids can go to get educated, without having to deal with the losers who would waste the opportunity/
This man did a lot, and has been recognized more than enough. But here is what rubs the geek side of me the wrong way. A man who boozes his way though life, swindles funding for projects that never quite succeed, and on a fluke gets elected president has an airport named after him, while someone like Debakey has spent his entire life helping people, does note. Not to be critical, but something seems not quite right.
"She's a scientist and a lesbian. She's not going to let it slide." Orphan Black
RIP. Thanks for saving a crapload of lives.
Need an automatic screenshot taker? Try here.
It's possible that DeBakey was indeed some sort of "geek", even a consummate one, but that's not indicated by anything mentioned here or in the link. I've never quite understood the logic by which anime-obsessed, Monty Python-incessantly-quoting dweebs attach themselves onto everyone else's technical achievements.
What I'm listening to now on Pandora...
His contribution will be felt for generations to come. My wife had some of his training.. He will be missed.
Malthus still wants his due. As some point we're going to have to have some sort of triage.
We can't save everyone, and neither should we. We need to remove between $X and $X+$Y (where both $X and $Y are in the billions) people from the planet. How do you want to do it? War? Famine? Disease? Drought?
By not taking action new, we're condemning a lot MORE people to suffer in the future.
Compared to that, compulsory abortion after the second kid is a blessing.
Dr. DeBakey - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debakey
Prof. Farnsworth - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hubert_J._Farnsworth
...I concur with your statements. But it wasn't the personal abuse you posted which got you modded down, it was your statements. At least 90% of Americans still worship imaginary superfriends in the sky and they do not want to hear the facts, because it makes them look retarded.
There is no God. There are no gods. Cultists and any others who pray to idols and deities should seek therapy.
Troll.
Dr DeBakey deserves a far better send off than the racist ramblings of a coward like you. May he be happy wherever he wound up from here.
I intend to live forever, or die trying. - Groucho Marx
I've had three open-heart surgeries due to Tetralogy of Fallot. Shortly before my second surgery, I caught chicken pox from a classmate. The chicken pox trashed my immune system and I also had bacterial endocarditis, encephalitis, spinal meningitis, pneumonia, and Reyes Syndrome. Dr. Denton Cooley did the surgery with Dr. DeBakey assisting. They cleaned the endocarditis out of my heart, by hand, put a porcine valve in the aortic opening, and replace the badly infected dacron patch on my VSD.
I'm going to miss him. :(
If "disco" means "I learn" in Latin, does "discothèque" mean "I learn technology"?
You made an account just to have a little meltdown at a bad and obvious troll?
way to go
or he would have been killing infidels on the operating table because muslims are liars and murderers.
I would have missed that (because it had such a low rating), if cailith1970 hadn't pointed it out.
That really is disgraceful racism. It's not clever or cute or funny. That's crude and stupid even by the tolerant standards of Slashdot.
There's no place in science or medicine for racism. It's not enough to ignore it. We have to let people know that their behavior is unacceptable.
When (if) you grow up and become a functioning member of society, you'll realize that.
...where the fuck is his Presidential Medal of Freedom, but it turns out that he's already been awarded one almost 50 years ago. His list of honors and accolades is huge:
* Lifetime Achievement Awards from the Academy of Medical Films
* American Heart Association (AHA)
* Children Uniting Nations
* Encyclopaedia Britannica
* Foundation for Biomedical Research
* International College of Angiology
* International Health and Medical Film Festival
* Research! America
* Tulane Medical Alumni Association
* U.S. Army Legion of Merit (1945)
* American Medical Association Hektoen Gold Medal (1954 and 1970)
* Rudolph Matas Award in Vascular Surgery (1954)
* International Society of Surgery Distinguished Service Award (1958)
* Leriche Award (1959)
* American Medical Association Distinguished Service Award (1959)
* Albert Lasker Award for Clinical Medical Research (1963)
* American Medical Association Billings Gold Medal Exhibit Award (1967)
* American Heart Association Gold Heart Award (1968)
* Union of Soviet Socialist Republics Academy of Sciences 50th Anniversary Jubilee Medal (1973)
* Russian Academy of Medical Sciences Foreign Member (1974)
* Veterans of Foreign Wars Commander-in-Chiefâ(TM)s Medal and Citation (1980)
* American Surgical Association Distinguished Service Award (1981)
* Academy of Surgical Research Markowitz Award (1988)
* Association of American Medical Colleges Special Recognition Award (1988)
* American Legion Distinguished Service Award (1990)
* Premio Giuseppe Corradi Award for Surgery and Scientific Research (1997)
* Russian Military Medical Academy, Boris Petrovsky International Surgeons Award and First Laureate of the Boris Petrovsky Gold Medal (1997)
* John P. McGovern Compleat Physician Award (1999)
* Russian Academy of Sciences Foreign Member (1999)
* Texas Senate and House of Representatives, Adoption of resolutions honoring Dr. DeBakey for 50 years of medical practice in Texas (1999)
* American Medical Association Virtual Mentor Award (2000)
* American Philosophical Society Jonathan Rhoads Medal (2000)
* Library of Congress Bicentennial Living Legend Award (2000)
* Villanova University Mendel Medal Award (2001)
* Houston Hall of Fame (2001)
* NASA Invention of the Year Award (2001)
* MUSC[1] "Lindbergh-Carrel Prize"[2](2002)
* Congressional Gold Medal (April 23, 2008)
Note that he not only won awards from the States, but the U.S.S.R. honored him with awards as well. Our mortal enemy for nearly 50 years recognized how great this guy is.
Has Bush said anything about this, or is he continuing to be an inept idiot ignorant of events in the scientific community?
Random Thoughts From A Diseased Mind (Not For Dummies)
In 1970, I had open heart surgery to repair an aortic ventricular aneurysm. I was 7 years old. I was on a heart-lung machine for the surgery, and my surgeon, Jay Ankeney, was undoubtable a denizen or Dr. DeBakey. At the time, open heart surgery was rare and extremely risky, and nearly unheard of on a child. A few years ago, I had the chance to meet one of the leading cardiac surgeons in Chicago, and told him about my experience. When he found out a surgeon had done open heart on a 7 year old in 1970 he exclaimed "that guy must have had steel balls to try and pull that off." DeBakey had a pair of big brass ones - EVERY time he cut into a patient, that patient was in jeopardy of dying soon, and dying from the procedure - a rock and a hard place. And he did it over and over. While 50,000 people owe him a direct debt, we all owe him an enormous one. I for one will recall his blessings.
Will be sincerely missed.
Dr. DeBakey was an example to be followed, a man who knew no bounds in his interdisciplinary research and persuit for the betterment of human life.
In this sad day, all our hearts are made a little bit out of titanium alloy - to be like the ones you made to give life to those who needed to extend it so badly.
R.I.P. Dr. DeBakey
and thank you.
Main difference between the BSD license and the GPL license: one is from California and the other is from Massachusetts
The bypass was developed by Favaloro, one of the gretests surgeons in Argentina.
Wikipedia says: Dr. René GerÃnimo Favaloro (July 12, 1923 â" July 29, 2000) was an Argentine cardiac surgeon who created the technique for coronary bypass surgery.
Progress is often diffuse and if it has happened before you are born you tend to take it for granted. It's nice to get to know about someone who was more productive in half an hour than most are in all their life. This men is truly an inspiration in his tireless effort to perform his craft, advance the sciences and make people get better.
Thank you and may you rest in peace.
___
No power in the 'verse can stop me
It is always a sad day when a giant in his field passes away, and today was one of those days. Indeed, Dr. DeBakey was one of the giants of modern medicine, due to the amount of innovation spearheaded by his efforts. His work directly affected countless lives for the better, as he caused a paradigm shift in cardiovascular medicine. A sad day indeed. May you rest in peace, Doc.
'bout them apostrophes. I can see why he was so upset.
Too bad he didn't store his age in hex, he could have lived 155 more years.
He's no geek!
My Mom worked for him briefly, and My Dad met him during his residency. And the moral of the story is, if you not only personally save countless lives but create techniques that allow countless others to save countless lives (thus revolutionizing not merely medical science but Mathematics, with this concept of "finite uncountability"), then you're allowed to be an asshole.
The rest of you are not quite so cool -- so be nice to each other.
i think the three medical achievements stated in the article summary probably deserve more respect than 'honors and accolades' that a few people here seem to be wetting themselves over
Where's the Nobel Prize you insensitive clods?
I'm not trying to take anything away from this prolific surgeon whom I've always admired, but to the best of my knowledge he was not the first who performed aortocoronary bypass surgery. This praise should go to Rene Favoloro ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ren%C3%A9_Favaloro).
Just a quick comment, the first bypass surgery, actually the creation of the technique, was made by Rene Favaloro.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ren%C3%A9_Favaloro
All my scalpels are called Michael.
"In 2005 he underwent the Debakey procedure, which he pioneered, to treat the aortic dissection he suffered." The old saying of, "Doctor, heal thyself!" definitely does not apply to Dr. DeBlakey. /salute and godspeed.
"May he rest in piece."
It's rest in PEACE, stupid!
I grew up in the town where his parents (the Dabaghi's which was later anglicised to DeBakey) came from in South Lebanon.
When I was still in that town, over 30 years ago he was a very famous man in that (his family is a big part of town as well) and in the sixties when he visited his relatives there was accorded great honours.
Anyway, I reckon his fame and his ability to achieve great things were great conributing factors that lead many people in that town to also emigrate to US and also achieve many great things as US citizens.
It shows that migrants are able to contribute considerably t their adoptive society than most people fear.
He had reached max level, what else could he do?
I think Blalock and Thomas were the first to directly operate on the heart. They were treating blue babys in the 40's. Thomas' role is especially remarkable in that because he was black, he had no college or formal medical training.
"In his career he performed over 50,000 heart surgeries..."
This doesn't mean every patient survived the procedure. ;)
You must be new here. Don't feed the trolls.
hahahaha! you got modded down! you're such a gimp. you got exactly what you deserved for trying to be all proper and shit. thanks for the laughs fucktard. i hope you get bitchslapped again the next time you try to be all politically correct. you've been regally fucked.
DeBakeys are a long (8 inch) pair of pick-ups or "tweezers" that have been around for a long time. There are at least 3-4 DeBakey clamps that I can think of.
I just used a set of DeBakey pick-ups yesterday, and more importantly my Grandma survived her quadruple heart bypass. Thanks Dr.DeBakey for all your contributions. God rest your soul, as you've earned it, and some nice R&R.
..........FULL STOP.