Michael E. DeBakey
Encyclopedia
Michael Elias DeBakey was a world-renowned Lebanese-American cardiac surgeon
, innovator, scientist, medical educator, and international medical statesman. DeBakey was the chancellor emeritus of Baylor College of Medicine
in Houston, Texas
and director of The Methodist DeBakey Heart & Vascular Center and senior attending surgeon of The Methodist Hospital
in Houston.
, Louisiana
to Lebanese immigrants Shaker and Raheeja Dabaghi (later Anglicized to DeBakey).
degree from Tulane University
in New Orleans
. In 1932, he received an M.D. degree from Tulane University School of Medicine
. He remained in New Orleans to complete his internship and residency in surgery at Charity Hospital
. DeBakey completed his surgical fellowships at the University of Strasbourg
, France, under Professor René Leriche
, and at the University of Heidelberg, Germany, under Professor Martin Kirschner
. Returning to Tulane Medical School, he served on the surgical faculty from 1937 to 1948. From 1942 to 1946, he was on military leave as a member of the Surgical Consultants' Division in the Office of the Surgeon General of the Army, and in 1945 he became its Director and received the Legion of Merit
. DeBakey helped develop the mobile army surgical hospital
(MASH) units and later helped establish the Veteran's Administration Medical Center Research System. He joined the faculty of Baylor University College of Medicine (now known as the Baylor College of Medicine
) in 1948, serving as Chairman of the Department of Surgery until 1993. DeBakey was president of the college from 1969 to 1979, served as Chancellor from 1979 to January 1996, he was then named Chancellor Emeritus. He was also Olga Keith Wiess and Distinguished Service Professor in the Michael E. DeBakey Department of Surgery at Baylor College of Medicine
and Director of the DeBakey Heart Center for research and public education at Baylor College of Medicine and The Methodist Hospital
.
DeBakey's ability to bring his professional knowledge to bear on public policy earned him a reputation as a medical statesman. He was a member of the medical advisory committee of the Hoover Commission
and was chairman of the President's Commission on Heart Disease, Cancer and Stroke during the Johnson Administration
. He worked in numerous capacities to improve national and international standards of health care. Among his numerous consultative appointments was a three-year membership on the National Advisory Heart and Lung Council of the National Institutes of Health
.
DeBakey served in the U.S. Army during World War II
and helped to revolutionize wartime medicine by supporting the stationing of doctors closer to the front lines. This concept greatly improved the survival rate of wounded soldiers and resulted in the development of Mobile Army Surgical Hospital
(MASH) units during the Korean War
.
, the significance of which was not realized until 20 years later when it became an essential component of the heart-lung machine
. The pump provided a continuous flow of blood during operations. This, in turn, made open-heart surgery possible.
With his mentor, Alton Ochsner
, he postulated in 1939 a strong link between smoking and carcinoma
of the lung. DeBakey was one of the first to perform coronary artery bypass surgery
, and in 1953 he performed the first successful carotid endarterectomy
. A pioneer in the development of an artificial heart
, DeBakey was the first to use an external heart pump successfully in a patient – a left ventricular bypass pump.
DeBakey pioneered the use of Dacron grafts to replace or repair blood vessels. In 1958, to counteract narrowing of an artery caused by an endarterectomy
, DeBakey performed the first successful patch-graft angioplasty
. This procedure involved patching the slit in the artery from an endarterectomy with a Dacron or vein graft. The patch widened the artery so that when it closed, the channel of the artery returned to normal size. The DeBakey artificial graft is now used around the world to replace or repair blood vessels.
In the 1960s, DeBakey and his team of surgeons were among the first to record surgeries on film. A camera operator would lie prone atop a surgical film stand made to DeBakey's specifications and record a surgeon's eye view of the operating area. The camera and lights were positioned within three to four feet of the operative field, yet did not interfere with the surgical team.
DeBakey worked together with Denton Cooley
while they both practiced at Baylor College of Medicine. According to the April 10, 1970 issue of Life magazine, they had a disagreement associated with Cooley's apparently unauthorized implantation of the first artificial heart
in a human. DeBakey had set the surgery for Friday, April 4, 1969, and because of a schedule conflict relating to a speech in Corpus Christi, Texas, rescheduled it for the following Monday. Cooley then rescheduled back to the original date and performed the surgery while DeBakey was out of town. The press covered the surgery and Cooley gained much publicity. DeBakey was angry at Cooley for his actions. Cooley then left Methodist Hospital and signed on with St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital
across the street. Their disagreement turned into a bitter feud that lasted for decades; the two men reconciled in 2007, but DeBakey made it public by inviting Cooley to his Congressional Gold Medal ceremony. On May 2, 2008, DeBakey inducted Cooley into the Michael E. DeBakey International Surgical Society, presenting him with a leather-bound copy of the first medical article the two co-authored and a lifetime achievement award.
To the amazement of his colleagues and patients, DeBakey continued to practice medicine into an age well after most others have retired. DeBakey practiced medicine until the day he died, and nearly reached 100 years of age in 2008. His contributions to the field of medicine spanned the better part of 75 years. DeBakey operated on more than 50,000 patients, including several heads of state. DeBakey and a team of American cardiothoracic surgeons, including George Noon, supervised quintuple bypass surgery performed by Russian surgeons on Russia
n President Boris Yeltsin
in 1996.
In 1969, the Baylor College of Medicine
separated from Baylor University under his direction. The DeBakey High School for Health Professions
, the Methodist DeBakey Heart & Vascular Center and the Michael E. DeBakey Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Houston
at the Texas Medical Center
in Houston are named after him. He had a role in establishing the Michael E. DeBakey Heart Institute at the Hays Medical Center in Kansas. Several atraumatic vascular surgical clamps and forceps that he introduced also bear his name. DeBakey founded the Michael E. DeBakey Institute at Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences
as a collaboration between Texas A&M
, the Baylor College of Medicine and the UT Health Science Center at Houston to further cardiovascular research.
DeBakey received the Presidential Medal of Freedom
in 1969 even though his name was later found on Nixon's Enemies List
. In 1987, President Ronald Reagan
awarded him the National Medal of Science
. He was a Health Care Hall of Famer, a Lasker Luminary, and a recipient of The United Nations Lifetime Achievement Award and the Presidential Medal of Freedom with Distinction. He was given the Lifetime Achievement Award of the Foundation for Biomedical Research and in 2000 was cited as a "Living Legend" by the Library of Congress. On April 23, 2008, he received the Congressional Gold Medal from President George W. Bush
, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi
, and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid
.
. Years prior, DeBakey had pioneered the surgical treatment of this condition, creating what is now known as the DeBakey Procedure. He was hospitalized at The Methodist Hospital
in Houston, Texas.
DeBakey initially resisted the surgical option, but as his health deteriorated and DeBakey became unresponsive, the surgical team opted to proceed with surgical intervention. In a controversial decision, Houston Methodist Hospital Ethics
Committee approved the operation; on February 9–10, he became the oldest patient ever to undergo the surgery for which he was responsible. The operation lasted seven hours. After a complicated post-operative course that required eight months in the hospital at a cost of over one million dollars, DeBakey was released in September 2006 and returned to good health. Although DeBakey had previously refused surgery, he later stated that he was grateful that his surgical team performed the operation.
He was present at Baylor College of Medicine for the groundbreaking of the new Michael E. DeBakey Library and Museum on October 18, 2006.
. DeBakey was preceded in death by his first wife, Diana Cooper DeBakey who died of a heart attack in 1972 and by his sons, Houston lawyer Ernest O. DeBakey, who died in 2004, and Barry E. DeBakey, who died in 2007. His brother Ernest, an oncologist in Mobile, Alabama
, died in 2006. In addition to his wife, Katrin, and their daughter, Olga, DeBakey was survived by sons Michael and Denis, as well as sisters Lois and Selma DeBakey, who are both medical editors and linguists at Baylor. After lying in repose
in Houston's City Hall
, being the first ever to do so, DeBakey received a memorial service at the Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart
on July 16, 2008 Dr. DeBakey was granted ground burial in Arlington National Cemetery by the Secretary of the Army. On January 21, 2009, DeBakey became the first posthumous recipient of The Denton A. Cooley Leadership Award.
(FBR), whose goal is to promote public understanding and support for animal research. DeBakey made wide use of animals in his research. He antagonized animal rights
and animal welfare
advocates who oppose the use of animals in the development of medical treatment for humans when he claimed that the “future of biomedical research; and ultimately human health” would be compromised if shelters stopped turning over surplus animals for medical research. Responding to the need for animal research, DeBakey stated that "These scientists, veterinarians, physicians, surgeons and others who do research in animal labs are as much concerned about the care of the animals as anyone can be. Their respect for the dignity of life and compassion for the sick and disabled, in fact, is what motivated them to search for ways of relieving the pain and suffering caused by diseases."
M. E. DeBakey: The living heart. Charter Books, 1977; Putnam Publishing Group, 1983.
M. E. DeBakey: The Living heart diet. New York: Raven Press/Simon and Schuster, 1984.
M. E. DeBakey: New living heart. Adams, 1997.
DeBakey worked on his first book with Beebe after the Second World War:
M. E. DeBakey and G. W. Beebe: Battle Casualties Incidence, Mortality, and Logistic Considerations, 1952
Cardiac surgeon
A cardiac surgeon is a surgeon who performs cardiac surgery—operative procedures on the heart and great vessels.-Training:A cardiac surgery residency typically comprises anywhere from six to nine years of training to become a fully qualified surgeon...
, innovator, scientist, medical educator, and international medical statesman. DeBakey was the chancellor emeritus of Baylor College of Medicine
Baylor College of Medicine
Baylor College of Medicine, located in the Texas Medical Center in Houston, Texas, USA, is a highly regarded medical school and leading center for biomedical research and clinical care...
in Houston, Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
and director of The Methodist DeBakey Heart & Vascular Center and senior attending surgeon of The Methodist Hospital
The Methodist Hospital
The Methodist Hospital is a hospital located in the Texas Medical Center in Houston, Texas. Established in 1919 as an outreach ministry of The United Methodist Church, Methodist is one of the most comprehensive teaching hospitals in the United States, with leading specialists in every field of...
in Houston.
Early life
Michael Elias DeBakey was born as Michel Dabaghi in Lake CharlesLake Charles
Lake Charles may refer to:in Canada*Lake Charles, Nova Scotia, a lake in the Halifax Regional Municipalityin the United States*Lake Charles, Louisiana, a city in the United States*Lake Charles , the lake after which it is named...
, Louisiana
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
to Lebanese immigrants Shaker and Raheeja Dabaghi (later Anglicized to DeBakey).
Medical career
DeBakey received his BSBachelor of Science
A Bachelor of Science is an undergraduate academic degree awarded for completed courses that generally last three to five years .-Australia:In Australia, the BSc is a 3 year degree, offered from 1st year on...
degree from Tulane University
Tulane University
Tulane University is a private, nonsectarian research university located in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States...
in New Orleans
New Orleans, Louisiana
New Orleans is a major United States port and the largest city and metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana. The New Orleans metropolitan area has a population of 1,235,650 as of 2009, the 46th largest in the USA. The New Orleans – Metairie – Bogalusa combined statistical area has a population...
. In 1932, he received an M.D. degree from Tulane University School of Medicine
Tulane University School of Medicine
The Tulane University School of Medicine is located in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA and is a part of Tulane University. The school is located in the Medical District of the New Orleans Central Business District.-History:...
. He remained in New Orleans to complete his internship and residency in surgery at Charity Hospital
Charity Hospital
Charity Hospital was one of two teaching hospitals which were part of the Medical Center of Louisiana at New Orleans . Three weeks after the events of Hurricane Katrina, then Governor Kathleen Blanco said that Charity Hospital would not reopen, even though the military had scrubbed the building to...
. DeBakey completed his surgical fellowships at the University of Strasbourg
University of Strasbourg
The University of Strasbourg in Strasbourg, Alsace, France, is the largest university in France, with about 43,000 students and over 4,000 researchers....
, France, under Professor René Leriche
René Leriche
René Leriche was a famous French surgeon.-Eponymous terms:René Leriche gave his name to two syndromes:...
, and at the University of Heidelberg, Germany, under Professor Martin Kirschner
Martin Kirschner
Martin Kirschner was a German surgeon, born 28 October 1879 in Breslau, died on 30 August 1942 in Heidelberg.Kirschner was the son of Margarethe Kalbeck, sister of Max Kalbeck, and Judge Martin Kirschner , who later served as city councillor of Breslau since 1873 and a member of the city...
. Returning to Tulane Medical School, he served on the surgical faculty from 1937 to 1948. From 1942 to 1946, he was on military leave as a member of the Surgical Consultants' Division in the Office of the Surgeon General of the Army, and in 1945 he became its Director and received the Legion of Merit
Legion of Merit
The Legion of Merit is a military decoration of the United States armed forces that is awarded for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services and achievements...
. DeBakey helped develop the mobile army surgical hospital
Mobile Army Surgical Hospital
The Mobile Army Surgical Hospital refers to a United States Army medical unit serving as a fully functional hospital in a combat area of operations. The units were first established in August 1945, and were deployed during the Korean War and later conflicts. The U.S...
(MASH) units and later helped establish the Veteran's Administration Medical Center Research System. He joined the faculty of Baylor University College of Medicine (now known as the Baylor College of Medicine
Baylor College of Medicine
Baylor College of Medicine, located in the Texas Medical Center in Houston, Texas, USA, is a highly regarded medical school and leading center for biomedical research and clinical care...
) in 1948, serving as Chairman of the Department of Surgery until 1993. DeBakey was president of the college from 1969 to 1979, served as Chancellor from 1979 to January 1996, he was then named Chancellor Emeritus. He was also Olga Keith Wiess and Distinguished Service Professor in the Michael E. DeBakey Department of Surgery at Baylor College of Medicine
Baylor College of Medicine
Baylor College of Medicine, located in the Texas Medical Center in Houston, Texas, USA, is a highly regarded medical school and leading center for biomedical research and clinical care...
and Director of the DeBakey Heart Center for research and public education at Baylor College of Medicine and The Methodist Hospital
The Methodist Hospital
The Methodist Hospital is a hospital located in the Texas Medical Center in Houston, Texas. Established in 1919 as an outreach ministry of The United Methodist Church, Methodist is one of the most comprehensive teaching hospitals in the United States, with leading specialists in every field of...
.
DeBakey's ability to bring his professional knowledge to bear on public policy earned him a reputation as a medical statesman. He was a member of the medical advisory committee of the Hoover Commission
Hoover Commission
The Hoover Commission, officially named the Commission on Organization of the Executive Branch of the Government, was a body appointed by President Harry S. Truman in 1947 to recommend administrative changes in the Federal Government of the United States...
and was chairman of the President's Commission on Heart Disease, Cancer and Stroke during the Johnson Administration
Lyndon B. Johnson
Lyndon Baines Johnson , often referred to as LBJ, was the 36th President of the United States after his service as the 37th Vice President of the United States...
. He worked in numerous capacities to improve national and international standards of health care. Among his numerous consultative appointments was a three-year membership on the National Advisory Heart and Lung Council of the National Institutes of Health
National Institutes of Health
The National Institutes of Health are an agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services and are the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and health-related research. Its science and engineering counterpart is the National Science Foundation...
.
DeBakey served in the U.S. Army during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
and helped to revolutionize wartime medicine by supporting the stationing of doctors closer to the front lines. This concept greatly improved the survival rate of wounded soldiers and resulted in the development of Mobile Army Surgical Hospital
Mobile Army Surgical Hospital
The Mobile Army Surgical Hospital refers to a United States Army medical unit serving as a fully functional hospital in a combat area of operations. The units were first established in August 1945, and were deployed during the Korean War and later conflicts. The U.S...
(MASH) units during the Korean War
Korean War
The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...
.
Medical pioneer
At age 23, while still in medical school at Tulane University, DeBakey invented the roller pumpPeristaltic pump
A peristaltic pump, or roller pump, is a type of positive displacement pump used for pumping a variety of fluids. The fluid is contained within a flexible tube fitted inside a circular pump casing . A rotor with a number of "rollers", "shoes" or "wipers" attached to the external circumference...
, the significance of which was not realized until 20 years later when it became an essential component of the heart-lung machine
Heart-lung machine
Cardiopulmonary bypass is a technique that temporarily takes over the function of the heart and lungs during surgery, maintaining the circulation of blood and the oxygen content of the body. The CPB pump itself is often referred to as a heart–lung machine or "the pump"...
. The pump provided a continuous flow of blood during operations. This, in turn, made open-heart surgery possible.
With his mentor, Alton Ochsner
Alton Ochsner
Alton Ochsner was a surgeon and medical researcher who worked at Tulane University and other New Orleans hospitals before he established his own world-renowned The Ochsner Clinic, now known as Ochsner Foundation Hospital...
, he postulated in 1939 a strong link between smoking and carcinoma
Carcinoma
Carcinoma is the medical term for the most common type of cancer occurring in humans. Put simply, a carcinoma is a cancer that begins in a tissue that lines the inner or outer surfaces of the body, and that generally arises from cells originating in the endodermal or ectodermal germ layer during...
of the lung. DeBakey was one of the first to perform coronary artery bypass surgery
Coronary artery bypass surgery
Coronary artery bypass surgery, also coronary artery bypass graft surgery, and colloquially heart bypass or bypass surgery is a surgical procedure performed to relieve angina and reduce the risk of death from coronary artery disease...
, and in 1953 he performed the first successful carotid endarterectomy
Carotid endarterectomy
Carotid endarterectomy is a surgical procedure used to prevent stroke, by correcting stenosis in the common carotid artery...
. A pioneer in the development of an artificial heart
Artificial heart
An artificial heart is a mechanical device that replaces the heart. Artificial hearts are typically used in order to bridge the time to heart transplantation, or to permanently replace the heart in case transplantation is impossible...
, DeBakey was the first to use an external heart pump successfully in a patient – a left ventricular bypass pump.
DeBakey pioneered the use of Dacron grafts to replace or repair blood vessels. In 1958, to counteract narrowing of an artery caused by an endarterectomy
Endarterectomy
Endarterectomy is a surgical procedure to remove the atheromatous plaque material, or blockage, in the lining of an artery constricted by the buildup of soft/hardening deposits. It is carried out by separating the plaque from the arterial wall....
, DeBakey performed the first successful patch-graft angioplasty
Angioplasty
Angioplasty is the technique of mechanically widening a narrowed or obstructed blood vessel, the latter typically being a result of atherosclerosis. An empty and collapsed balloon on a guide wire, known as a balloon catheter, is passed into the narrowed locations and then inflated to a fixed size...
. This procedure involved patching the slit in the artery from an endarterectomy with a Dacron or vein graft. The patch widened the artery so that when it closed, the channel of the artery returned to normal size. The DeBakey artificial graft is now used around the world to replace or repair blood vessels.
In the 1960s, DeBakey and his team of surgeons were among the first to record surgeries on film. A camera operator would lie prone atop a surgical film stand made to DeBakey's specifications and record a surgeon's eye view of the operating area. The camera and lights were positioned within three to four feet of the operative field, yet did not interfere with the surgical team.
DeBakey worked together with Denton Cooley
Denton Cooley
Denton Arthur Cooley is an American heart surgeon famous for performing the first implantation of a total artificial heart. Cooley is also founder and surgeon in-chief of the Texas Heart Institute, chief of Cardiovascular Surgery at St...
while they both practiced at Baylor College of Medicine. According to the April 10, 1970 issue of Life magazine, they had a disagreement associated with Cooley's apparently unauthorized implantation of the first artificial heart
Artificial heart
An artificial heart is a mechanical device that replaces the heart. Artificial hearts are typically used in order to bridge the time to heart transplantation, or to permanently replace the heart in case transplantation is impossible...
in a human. DeBakey had set the surgery for Friday, April 4, 1969, and because of a schedule conflict relating to a speech in Corpus Christi, Texas, rescheduled it for the following Monday. Cooley then rescheduled back to the original date and performed the surgery while DeBakey was out of town. The press covered the surgery and Cooley gained much publicity. DeBakey was angry at Cooley for his actions. Cooley then left Methodist Hospital and signed on with St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital
St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital
St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital serves as the lead hospital for St. Luke's Episcopal Health System, and is based at the Texas Medical Center in Houston. St. Luke's Episcopal Health System also includes St. Luke's Episcopal Health Charities, St. Luke's The Woodlands Hospital, St. Luke's Sugar Land...
across the street. Their disagreement turned into a bitter feud that lasted for decades; the two men reconciled in 2007, but DeBakey made it public by inviting Cooley to his Congressional Gold Medal ceremony. On May 2, 2008, DeBakey inducted Cooley into the Michael E. DeBakey International Surgical Society, presenting him with a leather-bound copy of the first medical article the two co-authored and a lifetime achievement award.
To the amazement of his colleagues and patients, DeBakey continued to practice medicine into an age well after most others have retired. DeBakey practiced medicine until the day he died, and nearly reached 100 years of age in 2008. His contributions to the field of medicine spanned the better part of 75 years. DeBakey operated on more than 50,000 patients, including several heads of state. DeBakey and a team of American cardiothoracic surgeons, including George Noon, supervised quintuple bypass surgery performed by Russian surgeons on Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n President Boris Yeltsin
Boris Yeltsin
Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin was the first President of the Russian Federation, serving from 1991 to 1999.Originally a supporter of Mikhail Gorbachev, Yeltsin emerged under the perestroika reforms as one of Gorbachev's most powerful political opponents. On 29 May 1990 he was elected the chairman of...
in 1996.
Baylor College of Medicine
Baylor College of Medicine, located in the Texas Medical Center in Houston, Texas, USA, is a highly regarded medical school and leading center for biomedical research and clinical care...
separated from Baylor University under his direction. The DeBakey High School for Health Professions
DeBakey High School for Health Professions
Michael E. DeBakey High School for Health Professions is a medical secondary school located in the Third Ward area of Houston, Texas, United States....
, the Methodist DeBakey Heart & Vascular Center and the Michael E. DeBakey Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Houston
Michael E. DeBakey Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Houston
Michael E. DeBakey Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Houston is a care facility affiliated with the United States Department of Veterans Affairs in the Texas Medical Center in Houston, Texas, United States...
at the Texas Medical Center
Texas Medical Center
The Texas Medical Center is the largest medical center in the world with one of the highest densities of clinical facilities for patient care, basic science, and translational research...
in Houston are named after him. He had a role in establishing the Michael E. DeBakey Heart Institute at the Hays Medical Center in Kansas. Several atraumatic vascular surgical clamps and forceps that he introduced also bear his name. DeBakey founded the Michael E. DeBakey Institute at Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences
Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences
The Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences is a college of Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas.Founded in 1916, the Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences is one of only 31 colleges of veterinary medicine in the United States and Canada. It...
as a collaboration between Texas A&M
Texas A&M University
Texas A&M University is a coeducational public research university located in College Station, Texas . It is the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System. The sixth-largest university in the United States, A&M's enrollment for Fall 2011 was over 50,000 for the first time in school...
, the Baylor College of Medicine and the UT Health Science Center at Houston to further cardiovascular research.
DeBakey received the Presidential Medal of Freedom
Presidential Medal of Freedom
The Presidential Medal of Freedom is an award bestowed by the President of the United States and is—along with thecomparable Congressional Gold Medal bestowed by an act of U.S. Congress—the highest civilian award in the United States...
in 1969 even though his name was later found on Nixon's Enemies List
Master list of Nixon political opponents
A master list of Nixon political opponents was compiled to supplement the original Nixon's Enemies List of 20 key people considered opponents of President Richard Nixon. The master list was compiled by Charles Colson's office and sent in memorandum form to John Dean. Dean later provided this...
. In 1987, President Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
awarded him the National Medal of Science
National Medal of Science
The National Medal of Science is an honor bestowed by the President of the United States to individuals in science and engineering who have made important contributions to the advancement of knowledge in the fields of behavioral and social sciences, biology, chemistry, engineering, mathematics and...
. He was a Health Care Hall of Famer, a Lasker Luminary, and a recipient of The United Nations Lifetime Achievement Award and the Presidential Medal of Freedom with Distinction. He was given the Lifetime Achievement Award of the Foundation for Biomedical Research and in 2000 was cited as a "Living Legend" by the Library of Congress. On April 23, 2008, he received the Congressional Gold Medal from President George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi
Nancy Pelosi
Nancy Patricia D'Alesandro Pelosi is the Minority Leader of the United States House of Representatives and served as the 60th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 2007 to 2011...
, and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid
Harry Reid
Harry Mason Reid is the senior United States Senator from Nevada, serving since 1987. A member of the Democratic Party, he has been the Senate Majority Leader since January 2007, having previously served as Minority Leader and Minority and Majority Whip.Previously, Reid was a member of the U.S...
.
Health issues
On December 31, 2005, at age 97, DeBakey suffered an aortic dissectionAortic dissection
Aortic dissection occurs when a tear in the inner wall of the aorta causes blood to flow between the layers of the wall of the aorta and force the layers apart. The dissection typically extends anterograde, but can extend retrograde from the site of the intimal tear. Aortic dissection is a medical...
. Years prior, DeBakey had pioneered the surgical treatment of this condition, creating what is now known as the DeBakey Procedure. He was hospitalized at The Methodist Hospital
The Methodist Hospital
The Methodist Hospital is a hospital located in the Texas Medical Center in Houston, Texas. Established in 1919 as an outreach ministry of The United Methodist Church, Methodist is one of the most comprehensive teaching hospitals in the United States, with leading specialists in every field of...
in Houston, Texas.
DeBakey initially resisted the surgical option, but as his health deteriorated and DeBakey became unresponsive, the surgical team opted to proceed with surgical intervention. In a controversial decision, Houston Methodist Hospital Ethics
Ethics
Ethics, also known as moral philosophy, is a branch of philosophy that addresses questions about morality—that is, concepts such as good and evil, right and wrong, virtue and vice, justice and crime, etc.Major branches of ethics include:...
Committee approved the operation; on February 9–10, he became the oldest patient ever to undergo the surgery for which he was responsible. The operation lasted seven hours. After a complicated post-operative course that required eight months in the hospital at a cost of over one million dollars, DeBakey was released in September 2006 and returned to good health. Although DeBakey had previously refused surgery, he later stated that he was grateful that his surgical team performed the operation.
He was present at Baylor College of Medicine for the groundbreaking of the new Michael E. DeBakey Library and Museum on October 18, 2006.
Death
On July 11, 2008, DeBakey died at The Methodist Hospital in Houston; the cause of death remained unspecifiedDeath by natural causes
A death by natural causes, as recorded by coroners and on death certificates and associated documents, is one that is primarily attributed to natural agents: usually an illness or an internal malfunction of the body. For example, a person dying from complications from influenza or a heart attack ...
. DeBakey was preceded in death by his first wife, Diana Cooper DeBakey who died of a heart attack in 1972 and by his sons, Houston lawyer Ernest O. DeBakey, who died in 2004, and Barry E. DeBakey, who died in 2007. His brother Ernest, an oncologist in Mobile, Alabama
Mobile, Alabama
Mobile is the third most populous city in the Southern US state of Alabama and is the county seat of Mobile County. It is located on the Mobile River and the central Gulf Coast of the United States. The population within the city limits was 195,111 during the 2010 census. It is the largest...
, died in 2006. In addition to his wife, Katrin, and their daughter, Olga, DeBakey was survived by sons Michael and Denis, as well as sisters Lois and Selma DeBakey, who are both medical editors and linguists at Baylor. After lying in repose
Lying in repose
Lying in repose is a term used to describe when a deceased person, often of some stature, is available for public viewing. "Lying in repose" is different from the formal honor of "lying in state", which is generally held at the principal government building of the country and often accompanied by...
in Houston's City Hall
Houston City Hall
The Houston City Hall building is the headquarters of the City of Houston government. It was constructed in 1938-1939, and is located in Downtown Houston. It is surrounded by skyscrapers and very similar to dozens of other city halls built in the southwest United States during the same time...
, being the first ever to do so, DeBakey received a memorial service at the Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart
Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart in Houston
The Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart is a place of worship located at 1111 St. Joseph Parkway in downtown Houston, Texas. The co-cathedral seats 1,820 people in its sanctuary. Together with the venerable St...
on July 16, 2008 Dr. DeBakey was granted ground burial in Arlington National Cemetery by the Secretary of the Army. On January 21, 2009, DeBakey became the first posthumous recipient of The Denton A. Cooley Leadership Award.
Views on animal research
DeBakey founded and chaired the Foundation for Biomedical ResearchFoundation for Biomedical Research
The Foundation for Biomedical Research is an American non profit organization, 501, located in Washington, DC. Established in 1981, the organization is dedicated to informing the news media, teachers, and other groups about the need for lab animals in medical and scientific research...
(FBR), whose goal is to promote public understanding and support for animal research. DeBakey made wide use of animals in his research. He antagonized animal rights
Animal rights
Animal rights, also known as animal liberation, is the idea that the most basic interests of non-human animals should be afforded the same consideration as the similar interests of human beings...
and animal welfare
Animal welfare
Animal welfare is the physical and psychological well-being of animals.The term animal welfare can also mean human concern for animal welfare or a position in a debate on animal ethics and animal rights...
advocates who oppose the use of animals in the development of medical treatment for humans when he claimed that the “future of biomedical research; and ultimately human health” would be compromised if shelters stopped turning over surplus animals for medical research. Responding to the need for animal research, DeBakey stated that "These scientists, veterinarians, physicians, surgeons and others who do research in animal labs are as much concerned about the care of the animals as anyone can be. Their respect for the dignity of life and compassion for the sick and disabled, in fact, is what motivated them to search for ways of relieving the pain and suffering caused by diseases."
Honors
- Lifetime Achievement Awards from the Academy of Medical Films
- American Heart Association (AHA)
- Children Uniting Nations
- Encyclopædia Britannica
- Foundation for Biomedical Research
- International College of Angiology
- International Health and Medical Film Festival
- Honorary Director of 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-Chief’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)
- Honorary Doctorate of Science from Universidad Francisco Marroquin https://ufm.edu (1989)
- American Legion Distinguished Service Award (1990)
- Honorary President of the International Society for Rotary Blood Pumps (1992)
- Special Award for Space Technology Utilization (1997)
- 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)
- Grau de Grande Oficial da Ordem de Santiago de Espada, Portugal, 1998
- Scientific Achievement Award of The American Association for Thoracic Surgery (1999)
- John P. McGovern Compleat Physician Award (1999)
- Russian Academy of Sciences Foreign Member (1999)
- Texas Senate and House of Representatives, Adoption of resolutions honoring 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 http://research.musc.edu/lindbergh/laureates.htm "Lindbergh-Carrel Prize" http://www.fondazionecarrel.org/sindex.html (2002)
- Congressional Gold Medal (April 23, 2008)
- First person ever to lie in state in the Houston City Hall Rotunda
- The Denton A. Cooley Leadership Award (January 21, 2009)
Publications
As a lifelong scholar, DeBakey's writings are reflected in his authorship or co-authorship in more than 1,300 published medical articles, chapters and books on various aspects of surgery, medicine, health, medical research and medical education, as well as ethical, socio-economic and philosophic discussion in these fields. Many of these are now considered classics. In addition to his scholarly writings, he is a best selling author, having co-authored such popular works as The Living Heart, The Living Heart Shopper's Guide and The Living Heart Guide to Eating Out. Some of the references:M. E. DeBakey: The living heart. Charter Books, 1977; Putnam Publishing Group, 1983.
M. E. DeBakey: The Living heart diet. New York: Raven Press/Simon and Schuster, 1984.
M. E. DeBakey: New living heart. Adams, 1997.
DeBakey worked on his first book with Beebe after the Second World War:
M. E. DeBakey and G. W. Beebe: Battle Casualties Incidence, Mortality, and Logistic Considerations, 1952
See also
- Cardiovascular surgery
- Heart transplantationHeart transplantationA heart transplant, or a cardiac transplantation, is a surgical transplant procedure performed on patients with end-stage heart failure or severe coronary artery disease. As of 2007 the most common procedure was to take a working heart from a recently deceased organ donor and implant it into the...
External links
- Video: DeBakey Medical Pioneers Biography on Health.mil – The Military Health System provides a look at the life and work of Michael DeBakey.
- DeBakey Department of Surgery at Baylor College of MedicineBaylor College of MedicineBaylor College of Medicine, located in the Texas Medical Center in Houston, Texas, USA, is a highly regarded medical school and leading center for biomedical research and clinical care...
- http://www.methodisthealth.com/heartcenter/Methodist DeBakey Heart Center at The Methodist HospitalThe Methodist HospitalThe Methodist Hospital is a hospital located in the Texas Medical Center in Houston, Texas. Established in 1919 as an outreach ministry of The United Methodist Church, Methodist is one of the most comprehensive teaching hospitals in the United States, with leading specialists in every field of...
] - Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center
- Michael E. DeBakey International Surgical Society
- DeBakey Institute for Comparative Cardiovascular Science and Biomedical Devices at Texas A&M University
- Lasker Luminary Dr. Michael DeBakey
- The Man on the Table Was 97, but He Devised the Surgery -- The New York TimesThe New York TimesThe New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
- In Moscow in 1996, a Doctor's Visit Changed History -- The New York TimesThe New York TimesThe New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...