Clarence Walton Lillehei
Father of open heart surgery (b 1918; q Minnesota 1941; MD, PhD), d 5 July 1999. This American surgeon of Norwegian descent contributed more to cardiovascular surgery than any other individual or even any other institution. He invented open heart surgery and then he defined it. Walt singlehandedly created the medical industrial complex as it relates to surgery of the heart. “What mankind can dream, research and technology can achieve,” he said. Like so many other young doctors Lillehei went into the army as a first lieutenant in 1942, rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel, picking up along the way a Bronze Star Medal and a European Theatre Ribbon with five battle stars.
In 1954 he was the first to repair complex congenital heart disease. Controlled cross circulation provided access to the open heart for the correction of ventricular septal defects, tetralogy of Fallot, and atrioventricular communis defects. The following year Lillehei and DeWall developed the single helix bubble oxygenator. Today the oxygenator is a thriving industry providing safe cardiopulmonary bypass for thousands of patients on a daily basis. John Kirklin at the Mayo Clinic was not far behind. So for a time the only institutions in the world where open heart surgery was being performed were just 90 miles apart, the University of Minnesota and the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota.
Next came the invention that erased heart block as a lethal complication of open heart surgery. A multibillion dollar industry now flourishes in the wake of this contribution by Lillehei. In 1967 his professor of surgery at Minnesota, Owen H Wangensteen, retired. Walt was late in filing his candidacy and was already an outlaw with respect to the dean. So, when Cornell University in New York beckoned, Lillehei accepted the Lewis Atterbury Stimson Chair of Surgery. After the successes and cooperation at Minnesota, New York proved intolerable. Commuting to his beautiful home in St Paul from New York along with a demanding speaking schedule proved to be too much of a distraction. Cornell was not ready for such a free spirit, and Lillehei was asked to relinquish the chair. This was an incredible turn of events, and those minor players who were consumed with envy made the most of it. Insinuation and allegations led to a confrontation with the internal revenue service, and the service won. Lillehei was given a substantial fine and six months’ community service.
Cataract surgery had ended Lillehei’s operating days, but nothing could block his inventive and creative genius. From an old prototype valve in Lillehei’s Minnesota period the now immensely popular St Jude mechanical valve emerged. Hundreds of thousands of patients have undergone heart valve replacement by means of the St Jude prosthesis. One hundred and forty cardiovascular surgeons worldwide trained with Lillehei, and each learnt not to panic, not to envy the success of colleagues, and to persevere in the face of insurmountable obstacles. This was a truly great man whom many people believed should have been awarded the Nobel prize for medicine. Predeceased by a son, he leaves a wife, Kaye; two sons (one a neurosurgeon and one a paediatric surgeon); and a daughter.
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John Andrew
Former neurosurgeon (b 1922; q St Bartholomew’s 1944; FRCS), d 30 May 1999. After neurosurgical training he spent a year on a Fullbright fellowship in Chicago. He was a consultant at Oldchurch Hospital in Romford and later at the Middlesex Hospital. After he retired he was invited to set up a neurosurgical unit in Abu Dhabi and he remained for several years. With E S Watkins John published a monograph of the detailed anatomy of the nuclei of the human thalamus at a time when surgical treatment of Parkinsonism was developing rapidly. He developed successful stereotaxic techniques for treating other forms of extrapyramidal disease, in particular for treating dystonia musculoram deformans. He also used stereotaxic techniques in treating other forms of tremor including so called “benign essential tremor.” John was a careful surgeon and found it difficult to put up with lower standards in junior colleagues. Outside medicine he enjoyed mountaineering, sailing, and skiing. He was a pianist and a regular visitor to Glyndebourne. Before he retired he built a home in Cyprus and when he became less active he took up painting and exhibited regularly. Some months before he died he suffered a severe stroke, but despite his physical limitations he was never a complainer. He leaves a wife, Margaret.
by C J Earl
John Aubrey Luther Bonnell
Formerly chief medical officer Central Electricity Generating Board (b 1924; q King’s 1948; FRCP, FFOM), died from the effects of cervical injury and Parkinsonism on 26 July 1999. John was a Welsh speaking occupational physician from Llanelli and a life long supporter of Welsh rugby. As a student, when he was known as Aubrey, he suffered from tibial osteomyelitis, which ended his rugby career and made him unfit for National Service, but he overcame the resulting disability with a raised heel. His role at the CEGB was difficult, largely because the regional electricity boards’ medical services were fiercely independent, variable in quality, and reluctant to accept guidance from London. Nevertheless, he achieved a high standard of occupational health throughout the industry and became an international expert on the health hazards of atomic energy. In collaboration with the Atomic Energy Authority and the National Radiological Protection Board he established standards for medical supervision of workers exposed to radiation, which are still observed in the United Kingdom and in other countries. John was gregarious and active in numerous professional societies, being president of the Society of Occupational Medicine in 1976. At medical meetings he shone with his extempore and often outrageously controversial comments. Outside medicine he was an enthusiastic opera goer and a reluctant gardener. He will be remembered most vividly as a rugby supporter singing “Land of my fathers” in Welsh with the tears rolling down his cheeks. Divorced from his first wife and predeceased by his second wife, Maureen, he leaves his third wife, Jill; two daughters from his first marriage; and two grandchildren.
by W M Dixon
Kenyon Carnarvon Brown
Former general practitioner and anaesthetist (b Petworth, Sussex, 1912; q St Bartholomew’s 1936; DA), d 22 July 1999. In 1936 he served as a ship’s surgeon in a cargo vessel and during the war served as a captain anaesthetist in the Royal Army Medical Corps. He took part in the Normandy invasion and was then posted to India. After the war he joined his father’s practice in Sevenoaks until he retired in 1982. He served Sevenoaks Hospital as a medical officer and consultant anaesthetist and was on the management committee for 20 years. He leaves a wife, Sylvia; two sons; and four granddaughters.
by K C Brown
Stuart Charles Kennedy
Former consultant general surgeon East Birmingham Hospital and Solihull Hospital (b Tipton 1936; q Birmingham 1959; FRCS), died after a liver transplantation on 30 June 1999. He suffered liver failure after acquiring hepatitis B in 1988, almost certainly during his work as a surgeon. When he became a consultant he played a large part in the expansion and development of the East Birmingham (now Heartlands) Hospital, particularly in postgraduate education where he was an accomplished teacher. Many trainees became friends who visited regularly during his last illness. He had a deep sense of compassion, particularly for patients who had a terminal illness. When Stuart was diagnosed with hepatitis B he had to retire from active surgery, which was a devastating blow, and he wrote about the psychological trauma in the BMJ. For a short time he was employed by the regional health authority on the development of audit, a subject which was underresourced and received little enthusiasm from the profession and his employers, but the job disappeared during a reorganisation. Stuart received little if any support when he became ill and this caused him great sadness. He suffered a long and debilitating illness, which was sustained by a passion for painting and a supportive family. He leaves a wife, Razio; two young children; two children from a previous marriage; and his father.
by Michael Middleton
Harold Oliver Phillipson
General practitioner Aylesbury (b 1919; q The London 1951; FRCGP), d 3 June 1999. Harold worked on the railways and in market gardening from the age of 12 to support his family. But his experiences during the second world war, when he served with an ambulance unit, convinced him that he wanted to become a doctor. He worked hard to support himself through medical school and won a scholarship. He did a year in obstetrics, which made him well prepared for domestic obstetrics, which he enjoyed. He regarded being a family doctor as a privilege and believed that medicine was an art as well as a science. He took on the role of medical officer at Manor House Hospital for people with mental disorders and under his guidance the hospital became a model of humane care and progressive treatment. Harold was an energetic member of the medical group of Amnesty International and was the inspiration in campaigning for the release of 100 Syrian doctors, who had been imprisoned for years without trial. He leaves a wife, Joyce; a son and a daughter; and two granddaughters.
by Peter H Phillipson and David Watt
Ephraim Frank Swift
Former general practitioner Liverpool (b Liverpool 1908; q Liverpool 1948), died from carcinoma of the colon on 6 June 1999. He had intended to take an arts degree and become a writer, but because of the financial difficulties resulting from the depression he had to seek employment. He became a apprentice pharmacist, qualifying in 1929, and an ophthalmic optician in 1933. He then embarked on his medical studies in 1942 while continuing to run his pharmacy to defray costs. When he qualified he started a practice from scratch and within five years had a full complement of patients. He was a skilled diagnostician and highly esteemed by his hospital colleagues, many of whose families he looked after. He retired at the age of 82. Outside medicine he had many interests in the arts, was fluent in many languages, and played the piano, violin, and viola. From his early youth until his final illness he travelled extensively. Predeceased by his wife, Doris; he leaves a son; a daughter; and three grandchildren.
by Raphael Marcus
Alfred Butler Taylor
Former general practitioner Barnsley, 1945-85 (b 1911; q Liverpool 1939), died from cancer on 15 February 1999. For a short time after qualification he worked with the Liverpool Shipping Federation and then in private practice in Ellesmere Port. He served in the Royal Army Medical Corps in the second world war, serving most of his time on the Russian front at Archangel and Murmansk and for a time at the British Embassy in Moscow. At the end of the war he was a medical observer at the extermination camps. He was an excellent linguist and was offered a job by the Foreign Office as a Russian interpreter. He entered general practice, initially singlehandedly. He served on the local medical committee and was chairman from 1958 to 1974. He was a police surgeon for several years. Predeceased by his wife, Alice, he leaves a son and a daughter.
by Timothy Pick
Michael Richard Tomlinson
General practitioner Redhill, Surrey (b Sarratt, Hertfordshire, 1963; q Royal Free 1987), died from a heart attack while training for the British Heart Foundation’s London to Brighton cycle ride on 28 February 1999. After vocational training in Ilford, Mike worked at Wamganui Base Hospital in New Zealand and then as a general practitioner in Australia. When he joined the Redhill practice his first priority was to establish a better team spirit and he then guided his colleagues towards improving the premises. He was ceaseless in his generation of ideas, often to the exasperation of others. He inherited a large list of elderly patients and never grumbled at the extra workload. In order to spend more time with his children, Mike devised a job share with his wife. His spare time was spent swimming, cycling, and entertaining his children. His favourite pastime was strolling with the family on Box Hill. He leaves a wife, Taraneh; a son; and two daughters.
by Janet Fricker