Mobile UPI  |   About UPI  |   UPI en Español  |   UPI Arabic  |   UPIU  |   My Account
Search:
Go

Congress honors heart doctor DeBakey

|
|
 
  
Published: Oct. 17, 2007 at 7:28 PM
Advertisement

WASHINGTON, Oct. 17 (UPI) -- The U.S. Congress has approved issuing a Congressional Gold Medal to Michael DeBakey, a heart surgeon who pioneered multiple techniques.

The House of Representatives unanimously voted Monday to approve giving the nation's top civilian honor to the 99-year-old doctor, who performed the first successful coronary bypass in 1964, the Dallas Morning News reported Wednesday.

The Senate approved the award in March, and President George Bush is expected to sign the provision into law.

"If we did not have a Congressional Gold Medal, we would have to create one to honor the honorable Dr. Michael DeBakey," said Rep. Al Green, D-Texas, one of the bill's sponsors.

"His contributions to medicine and his breakthrough surgery and innovative devices have completely transformed our view of the human body and of our longevity," said another sponsor, Rep. Michael Burgess, R-Texas.

DeBakey's techniques were used to save his own life two years ago when he underwent surgery to repair a torn aorta -- a condition that was nearly always fatal before DeBakey's breakthroughs.

Topics: Al Green, George Bush, Michael Burgess, Michael DeBakey
© 2007 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Any reproduction, republication, redistribution and/or modification of any UPI content is expressly prohibited without UPI's prior written consent.

Order reprints
  
Join the conversation
Most Popular Collections
Notable deaths of 2012 Scripps National Spelling Bee AmfAR Cinema Against AIDS gala
Indianapolis 500 Presidential Medal of Freedom Memorial Day around the nation
Additional Science News Stories
1 of 27
Snigdha Nandipati of San Diego wins Finals of the Scripps National Spelling Bee
View Caption
Snigdha Nandipati of San Diego, California watches confetti rain down as she wins the two-day Scripps National Spelling Bee championship, May 31, 2012, in National Harbor, Maryland. Nandipati successfully spelled the word .* guetapens *, meaning to lure or ambush. UPI/Mike Theiler
fark
Helpful hint for aspiring murderers: If you're thinking of killing someone in their sleep, it's...
New study from the auto, coal and airline institute says thunderstorms are responsible for spreading...
Photoshop these unfazed kids
A police officer finds an unorthodox way of telling his wife that her butt is too big
Freed dissident Chen Guangcheng is hopeful for Chinese democracy, Slash and Axl reunion
Got two unrelated, unsolicited heartfelt "thank-you's" from two of my clients today. What are the...