DeBakey, Michael E. 1908–2008

(Michael Ellis DeBakey)

OBITUARY NOTICE—

See index for CA sketch: Born September 7, 1908, in Lake Charles, LA; died July 11, 2008, in Houston, TX. Physician, surgeon, inventor, educator, administrator, and author. DeBakey is revered as one of America's greatest, and also longest-serving, physicians. His career began in the early 1930s when he invented a hand-operated roller pump that could replace human heart-lung operation during surgery without damaging the patient's red blood cells. When he walked out of the operating room for the last time nearly seventy years later, he had revolutionized the field of cardiovascular medicine. DeBakey performed tens of thousands of surgical procedures on patients from all walks of life, including movie stars and world leaders. His life-saving inventions included the roller pump, the Dacron vascular graft, and a partial artificial heart called the left ventricular assist device. He was one of the first Americans to perform a human heart transplant, to repair damaged arteries with Dacron grafts or with veins from the patient's own legs, and he made coronary bypass surgery a nearly routine procedure. DeBakey was affiliated with Baylor University for most of his career. He joined the faculty in Houston in 1948 and was instrumental in building the small, nearly bankrupt college of medicine into a world-famous complex of surgical and cardiovascular research centers. He became the chancellor of the medical college in 1969. DeBakey was also energetic outside the operating room and the classroom. He is credited with the concept for the first mobile army surgical hospitals (MASH units) that debuted during the Korean War. He transformed the National Library of Medicine from a chaotic collection of documents into a world-renowned treasury of medical knowledge. He advised presidents from Harry S Truman to George W. Bush, including the support he offered John F. Kennedy for the successful launch of the Medicare program. He was also an early campaigner against tobacco and smoking. DeBakey performed or assisted in surgeries into his late eighties or early nineties, but he never retired fully from medicine or teaching. A lingering topic of interest was his longtime suspicion that cholesterol was not the primary cause of atherosclerosis, or "hardening of the arteries." It was a puzzle that he never resolved. DeBakey has been described as a gentle doctor but a tough mentor, a diplomat at courting financial support but a dogged negotiator for causes that he considered critical; and he rarely hesitated to confess to his greatest achievements. Had he been less rigorous or tenacious in his approach, it is hard to measure how many millions of lives would have been cut short before their time. DeBakey received dozens of prestigious awards for both his achievements and his dedication. They include the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the National Medical of Science, and the Congressional Gold Medal, to name just a few. Though DeBakey published more than 1,000 articles in medical and scientific journals, his output of books was relatively sparse. Books for lay readers were related to his "living heart" books about heart health and diet. They include The Living Heart (1977), The Living Heart Diet (1984), The Living Heart Brand Name Shopper's Guide (1992), The Living Heart Guide to Eating Out (1993), and The New Living Heart (1997).

OBITUARIES AND OTHER SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Chicago Tribune, July 13, 2008, sec. 4, p. 6.

Los Angeles Times, July 13, 2008, pp. A1, A16-A17.

New York Times, July 13, 2008, pp. A1, A22.

Times (London, England), July 14, 2008, p. 49.

Washington Post, July 13, 2008, pp. A1, A5.