On Saturday, November 4, 2017 at 5:40:56 PM UTC-4, slim...@gmail.com wrote:
> On Saturday, November 20, 2004 at 9:59:15 AM UTC-5, marilyn...@aol.com wrote:
> > http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TPStory/LAC/20041120/OBHOFFMAN20/TPObituaries/
> >
> > The Toronto neurosurgeon operated on thousands of patients and yet his
> > best known case was a 12-hour procedure performed on two little girls
> > from Karachi, Pakistan
> > By SANDRA MARTIN (Toronto Globe and Mail)
> > Saturday, November 20, 2004 - Page S11
> >
> >
> >
> > In a surgical career that spanned 30 years and thousands of operations,
> > Dr. Harold Hoffman will always be remembered for operating on two
> > little girls named Hira and Nida Jamal.
> >
> > The two-year-old twins from Pakistan, who had been born with their
> > heads joined, had been confined to intensive care at Karachi's National
> > Institute of Child Health where they might have languished if Benazir
> > Bhuto, then prime minister of Pakistan, hadn't intervened. In 1995, Ms.
> > Bhuto committed $100,000 in government funds for a global search for a
> > surgeon willing to take on the challenge of separating them.
> >
> > It was to be Dr. Hoffman's most celebrated case.
> >
> > Dr. Hoffman and his team at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto
> > spent more than 12 hours in the operating room. Dr. James Rutka, who
> > served as Dr. Hoffman's assistant during the operation, remembered it
> > well. "At one critical juncture in the case when a blood vessel which
> > joined the twins had let loose and was bleeding profusely, Harold
> > quickly hooked the vessel with his index finger and clipped it with his
> > other hand," he said in a eulogy to Dr. Hoffman this week. Both twins
> > survived the procedure, which Dr. Rutka said was "miraculous," but Nida
> > suffered a stroke a month later and died.
> >
> > Harold Joseph Hoffman was born in Toronto, the only son of Louis and
> > Goldie Hoffman. His parents, who were both tailors, had emigrated from
> > Poland after the First World War. They opened a dress shop on Bloor
> > Street West and lived with her mother Rachel and their two children,
> > Harold and Lorraine, in a small apartment above their store. Even as a
> > little boy, Dr. Hoffman wanted to be a doctor and his parents, who
> > placed a great value on education, did everything in their power to
> > encourage him.
> >
> > "Their world revolved around him. My grandfather used to tell the story
> > about how he made sure everyone stayed quiet when my father was
> > studying" recalled Dr. Hoffman's second son Andrew, a real-estate
> > developer. Lorraine Hoffman Allan, seven years younger than her
> > brother, also excelled academically. She earned a doctorate in
> > psychology from McMaster University, where she continues to teach.
> >
> > Dr. Hoffman graduated from the University of Toronto Medical School in
> > 1956, with a panoply of academic scholarships to his credit. The next
> > year he married JoAnn Shulman and together they had three children,
> > Richard, Andrew and Katie.
> >
> > After completing a residency in neurosurgery under the late Dr. Harry
> > Botterell, Dr. Hoffman joined the staff of the Hospital for Sick
> > Children in 1964. There he worked with Bruce Hendrick, the first
> > pediatric neurosurgeon in Canada, and Robin Humphreys. Collectively,
> > the three men, who were called the 3Hs, co-authored definitive
> > publications on pediatric neurosurgery and drew students from around
> > the world. More than 120 international fellows and 200 University of
> > Toronto residents trained in pediatric neurosurgery under Dr. Hoffman.
> > By 1986, he had risen to become Neurosurgeon-in-Chief at the Hospital
> > for Sick Children, a position he held for a decade. Two years later,
> > the Harold J. Hoffman/Shoppers Drug Mart Chair in Pediatric
> > Neurosurgery was established at the hospital in recognition of his
> > achievements and his international reputation.
> >
> > Although the operation on the twins netted Dr. Hoffman an enormous
> > amount of attention, it wasn't the biggest achievement of his career,
> > according to Dr. James Drake, a former student who is the current
> > holder of the Hoffman Chair in pediatric neurosurgery at HSC.
> >
> > Besides working full time as a surgeon, Dr. Hoffman published 200
> > articles, edited and contributed to numerous textbooks, pioneered
> > innovative techniques on seemingly inoperable brain tumours and facial
> > abnormalities and amassed a research collection of more than 40,000
> > slides based on his clinical experience that have been digitized and
> > placed on the University of Toronto Neurosurgery website.
> >
> > Pointing out that many of Dr. Hoffman's publications were landmark
> > articles that are still cited today, Dr. Drake said: "His breadth of
> > innovation was incredible. He was a technical genius and he embraced
> > new technology even towards the end of his career when it gets harder
> > to do that. He looked for any way he could to improve his surgical
> > results."
> >
> > >From all accounts, Dr. Hoffman played as hard as he worked.
> >
> > Fred Epstein met him at the first international meeting of pediatric
> > neurosurgery in Japan in 1973 and they became fast friends and
> > colleagues.
> >
> > As a surgeon, Harold Hoffman was "somebody who felt he could do
> > anything," Dr. Epstein said from his home in New York. "He felt that
> > whatever he did was the right way and the only way. He was convinced
> > that he was the best in everything -- and he was. He was very, very
> > good."
> >
> > The two men, who worked together to design one of the world's first
> > Uni-shunts (a device that helps avoid problems of disconnections and
> > breakages when diverting blood flow), were in demand as lecturers and
> > surgeons around the world. When they weren't working, they loved
> > playing games with each other and on each other. "We were very
> > competitive," said Dr. Epstein fondly. "I would buy a watch and he
> > would buy a watch. I would always try and one-up him and he would try
> > and one-up me."
> >
> > Dr. Rutka said his mentor possessed eccentricities as well as genius,
> > including the wearing of a monocle and, on formal occasions, a
> > pince-nez.
> >
> > For many years, Dr. Hoffman was such a committed pipe smoker that his
> > son says "for the first 15 years of my life he had a pipe in his mouth
> > every waking minute other than when he was in the hospital." According
> > to a story that his family swears is true, Dr. Hoffman., pipe in mouth,
> > once fell out of a canoe in rough water. He went under and popped up
> > again still clenching the pipe between his teeth and continued to puff
> > away contentedly.
> >
> > After he retired in 1998, Dr. Hoffman took up painting. He signed up
> > for art classes and with his typically prodigious energy he painted
> > some 20 canvasses in about six months. These paintings, which are
> > mainly landscapes, are now hanging on the walls of the family cottage
> > at Lake Simcoe and in the homes of his wife and three children. "They
> > are quite special," said Mr. Hoffman. "People see these paintings and
> > ask who did them and are quite blown away that [they were painted by]
> > my father during his illness."
> >
> > In a ghastly twist, the internationally famous brain surgeon who saved
> > the lives of thousands of children developed frontal lobe dementia. The
> > disease manifested itself shortly after he retired.
> >
> > "The dementia got progressively worse," said his son-in-law Jordan
> > Atin. "Speech was the first thing to go and then he couldn't walk or
> > move his arms." Describing his father-in-law as "a very tall man and a
> > very striking figure," he said it was "tragic" to watch his decline.
> >
> > Dr. Hoffman had a great career and he was never able to enjoy the
> > aftermath, lamented Dr. Drake. "He had a tremendous amount to
> > contribute in terms of his teaching and his continued involvement in
> > pediatric neurosurgery and he was denied that. It was horrible."
> >
> > A legacy that his son says is a great comfort to the family are the
> > letters and phone calls from former patients in places as far away as
> > Japan and Israel attesting to the impact Dr. Hoffman had on their
> > lives. "You hear a lot of gratifying stories," he said, mentioning the
> > case of a 13-year-old girl diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumour in
> > the 1970s. "My dad pioneered the removal of that type of tumour and she
> > says she owes her life to him."
> >
> > Dr. Hoffman's confidence and enthusiasm rubbed off on his patients,
> > observed Dr. Drake. "He was optimistic no matter how bleak things
> > looked. He never quit and they really loved him for that."
> >
> > In a final request, Dr. Hoffman asked that his brain be donated to the
> > Canadian Brain Tissue Bank for research purposes.
> >
> > Harold Joseph Hoffman was born on May 12, 1932. He died in Toronto on
> > Nov. 14, 2004. He was 72. He is survived by his wife JoAnn who, even
> > though she suffers multiple sclerosis, cared for him at home during his
> > final illness. He also left his children Richard, Andrew and Katie.
> is this the same Dr. that performed experiments on children with epilepsy from 1940's to 1960's ? good riddance MONSTER
Yes it is, I was one of his top secret research subjects in 1969, and still experiencing the adverse effects of his criminal assault and battery. He was a liar, and child abuser, who had no regard for informed consent when exploiting epileptic children for non-therapeutic brain surgical experimentation.