Charles Everett Koop (October 14, 1916 - February 25, 2013) is an American child surgeon and public health administrator. He is the vice-admiral of the Corps of the General Services Commission, and served as the 13th General Surgery of the United States under President Ronald Reagan from 1982 to 1989. According to the Associated Press, "Koop is the only general surgeon to be a household. name."
Koop is known for his work to prevent the use of tobacco, AIDS, and abortion, and for his support of the rights of disabled children.
Video C. Everett Koop
Early life and education
Koop was born in Brooklyn, New York, the only son of John Everett Koop (1883-1972), a banker and descendant of 17th-century Dutch settlers, and Helen (nÃÆ' à © e Apple) Koop (1894-1970). In 1937, he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in zoology from Dartmouth College, where he was given the nickname "Chick" (sometimes used for his first name, Charles, but here is an allusion to the chicken coop). His interest in medicine followed a year in hospital after a childhood ski accident and cerebral hemorrhage. He earned an MD from Cornell Medical College in 1941 and a Doctor of Science degree in medicine from the University of Pennsylvania in 1947.
Maps C. Everett Koop
Careers
Medical career
From 1946 to 1981, Koop was a surgical head at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP). Koop was able to establish the first neonatal intensive care unit there in 1956. He helped found a biliary atresia program at CHOP when pioneering surgeon Morio Kasai came to work with him in the 1970s. He also founded a pediatric fellowship training program at CHOP. During his tenure there he graduated thirty-five residents and fourteen foreigners, many of whom later became professors of pediatric surgery, the director of the pediatric surgery division, and the chief surgeon of the children's hospital.
Koop became professor of pediatric surgery in 1959 and professor of pediatrics in 1971 at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine.
While a surgeon in Philadelphia, Koop performs a breakthrough surgical procedure on conjoined twins, a technique created that is currently used for infant surgery, and saves the lives of countless children who may have been allowed to die. He found anesthesia and surgery techniques for small bodies and metabolism and participated in the separation of several sets of conjoined twins whose condition other doctors at the time was considered desperate. He first gained international recognition in 1957 with the separation of two female pygopagus babies (siam on pelvis) and then, again, in 1974 by the separation of two ischiopagic twins (conjoined spine) sharing the liver, colon, and part of the intestine with all the trunks joining.
Koop is active in publishing articles in medical literature. Koop then wrote it
Every day from the early years in pediatric surgery I feel I am on the cutting edge. Some surgical problems that landed on the operating table in Children have not even been named. Many of the operations I have done have not been done before. It was a great feeling, but also a little scary. Sometimes I get annoyed by the fear that I am not doing things the right way, that I will regret, or that others have performed certain procedures successfully but have never bothered to write them for medical journals, or if they were me can not find it.
Koop helped fix this by publishing its own findings and results. In addition, he became the first editor of the Journal of Pediatric Surgery when it was founded in 1966.
In contrast to the years as a general surgeon, when it is his policies and speeches that affect others, his years as a surgical pediatrician involves more individualized, immediate, and direct effects on others. During his long career, for example, he performed about seventeen thousand improvements to the inguinal hernia and more than seven thousand orchestras (surgery to repair the non-descending testes). He developed new procedures, such as intestinal interposition graft to correct esophageal atresia (lack of congenital esophageal continuity) or ventriculoperitoneal shunt for the treatment of hydrocephalus (excessive brain spinal fluid accumulation in and around the brain causing neurological problems). He also handled many difficult cases ranging from childhood cancer to operations performed on conjoined twins, which he and his colleagues operated on ten couples during his 35-year tenure. In all that he operates many children and infants with birth defects that are 'incompatible with life but can undergo surgical correction'.
In 1976, Koop wrote the Right to Life, Right to Dead , putting his worries about abortion, infanticide, and euthanasia. Koop also took time off from his surgery practice to make a series of films with Christian defenders, Frank Schaeffer and his father Francis Schaeffer in 1978, titled Whatever Happens to the Human Race? based on the same title book previously written by the old Schaeffer. Frank Schaeffer and his colleague Jim Buchfuehrer gave a five-hour private examination to US Vice President Jack Kemp and his wife Joanne at their home that, according to Frank Schaeffer's report on the late-night and early-morning events in his book Crazy for God, , causing both Schaeffers and Koop to get "... access to everyone in Republicans".
President Ronald Reagan, shortly after his first inauguration, appointed Assistant Deputy Secretary of Health for Depop in February 1981. It was understood that Reagan would later nominate Koop to be a general surgeon.
United States General Surgeon
As expected, Koop was nominated as Surgeon General of United States by Reagan in 1981. Many liberal politicians and women's groups oppose the nomination because of Koop's highly conservative view and strong anti-abortion beliefs. His candidacy was confirmed by the US Senate on November 16, 1981, with a 60-24 vote. He was inducted into office on January 21 of the following year.
Koop Report
Koop, an opponent of abortion, rejected pressure from the Reagan administration in 1987 to prepare a report stating that abortion is psychologically harmful to women. He said it was not a public health issue but a moral one. Koop commissioned an assistant, George Walter, the task of researching the matter. Walter obtained a list of articles from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), most of which were written by CDC abortion monitoring staff, and consulted with Alan Guttmacher Institute personnel. Walter wrote a draft report of his findings and gave them to Koop.
In a letter of January 10, 1989 to Reagan, Koop said that there was insufficient evidence to support the publication of the findings desired by the government. He also commented on how some presidential advisors thought that "it was a foregone conclusion that the negative health effects of abortion on women were so great that the evidence would force the reversal of Roe v. Wade".
Koop did not present a draft report to Reagan and claimed he never approved of it. In March 1989, the "Koop Report" became public after it was summoned and became part of the Congressional subcommittee hearing. Although there are allegations that the report has not been released previously because it is biased, the document contains all the arguments on both sides of the problem.
Later career
After his career as Surgeon General, Koop is on the Expert Firestorm Solutions Council. Koop hosted a documentary series in 1991, entitled C. Everett Koop, M.D. It aired for six episodes on NBC.
Koop and other investors founded drkoop.com in 1997, during the dot-com bubble. This medical information website is one of the first major online health information sources. Critical reviews of site content reveal that many lists of personal care, drug recommendations, and medical test referrals are paid advertisements. The website went bankrupt in 2001 and the address is now redirecting to other health-related websites. Koop continues to support Life Alert bracelets for parents.
In 1999 testimony before Congress, Koop minimized the concerns of health groups about the severity of allergies to latex gloves. It was later discovered that the company that produced rubber gloves had previously paid Koop $ 650,000 for consulting work.
Koop holds three professorships at Dartmouth Medical School, where he is also a senior scholar at the C. Everett Koop Institute.
Legacy
Koop is perhaps best remembered for four aspects of his professional job.
Abortion
Although Koop opposes abortion on personal and religious grounds, he refuses to state that abortion procedures performed by qualified medical professionals pose a major health risk to women whose pregnancies are terminated, despite political pressure to support the position.
Tobacco
In his Report on Surgeon General 1988, it was reported that nicotine has an addiction similar to heroin or cocaine. The Koop report is somewhat unexpected, especially by those who expect him to maintain the status quo in relation to his office position on tobacco products. During his tenure, in 1984, Congress passed a law that provided new health warning labels rotated on cigarette packets and the ads needed to include labels. The labels remain unchanged today. New labels containing illustration of illness graphs and deaths from smoking have been announced by the FDA, but are pending awaiting the outcome of the legal challenges of the tobacco industry. Koop issued a challenge to America in 1984 to "create a smoke-free society in the United States in 2000." As Surgeon General, he released eight reports on the health consequences of tobacco use, including the first report on the health consequences of exposure to unintentional tobacco smoke. During Koop's tenure as Surgeon General, the smoking rate in the United States declined significantly from 38% to 27%.
AIDS
Koop was a General Surgeon when the first public health authorities started paying attention to AIDS. During his first four years in office, Koop, a national health officer, was prevented from overcoming this health crisis, for the reasons he insisted were never clear to him, but that was no doubt politically. Koop wrote the official US policy on the disease, and in 1988 he took unprecedented action in sending AIDS information to every US household. Gay activists and their supporters are unhappy with the way he targets gay sex and the risk of infection through anal intercourse as the main vector of the disease, but Koop has no regrets, claiming such activities require a risk some-fold greater than any other means. transmission. Religious activists, upset over the discussion of pamphlets about sexual practices and advocacy of condom use, called for Koop's resignation. Koop also angered some former supporters by advocating sex education at school, perhaps as early as third grade, including further instructions on appropriate condom use to combat the spread of AIDS. While the direct public account of the disease is controversial, Koop has also been criticized by some health activists who claim that his office has not gone far enough in developing drugs or vaccines, reducing the role of his office to educate the public. on health issues.
Baby Doe and disabled children right
In April 1982, a child born in Bloomington, Indiana, was diagnosed with Down syndrome and esophageal atresia with tracheoesophageal fistula. Six days later, after court involvement and parental discussions involving disagreements among physicians about whether or not to care for the baby or allowing him to die, the baby dies, has been denied surgical treatment to correct esophageal atresia and tracheoesophageal fistula. Baby Doe, as she is known, became a symbol for children with birth defects, deformed babies, and debates about infanticide. Koop was initially not involved with the Baby Doe case but had a special interest in it. As a child surgeon in Philadelphia, he and his colleagues have operated 475 such babies for 35 years there, with an ever-increasing survival rate. Over the past eight years in active practice, Koop has never lost a month-long baby that he operates to repair esophageal atresia. It is because of this background that he became actively involved in championing policies to protect the rights of the disabled baby, which led to Congress passing the Baby Doe Amendment.
Style
These four issues combine with Koop's personality and his willingness to use the mass media brought to the Surgeon General's office, a public profile higher than before. he, for example, the first Surgeon General has been the subject of the popular song - "Promiscuous" by Frank Zappa. He was interviewed by Ali G for the comedic effect.
Koop is known for his less bearded beard and a colorful butterfly bow tie. During most of his day-to-day work, Koop wore the US District Health Office's Public Service Corps uniform, a uniform similar to the Vice Admiral of the US Navy. During his tenure he returned to wearing the daily PHS uniform by PHS officers.
Personal life
In early 1968, Koop's son, David, was killed in a rock-climbing accident on Mount Cannon during his first year at Dartmouth College. Koop later wrote that due to the death of his son he thought, "I may be better able to help the parents of dying children, but for some time I feel inadequate, too emotionally involved, and since then, I have rarely been able to discuss the death of a a child without tears flowed into my eyes. "Years later, he and his wife wrote a book called The Sometimes Mountains Move to help others who lost a child. Koop's son, Pdt. Norman Koop attended Eastern Baptist College (now Eastern University) and graduated in 1969. The following year, the older Koop was elected the supervisory council who became the first non-Baptist council member.
In February 2007, Elizabeth Koop, his wife of nearly 70 years, died. On April 17, 2010, she married Cora Hogue, a former member of the Tenth Presbyterian Church staff in Philadelphia.
Death and inheritance
At a press conference in 2010, Koop spoke from a wheelchair and said that he was "very, very deaf" and legally blind. Koop died on February 25, 2013, at the age of 96 years at his home in Hanover, New Hampshire. According to a Koop aide, she has been sick for several months and has suffered kidney failure the previous week. There has been no official determination of the cause of death being announced.
Source of the article : Wikipedia