Turf battles and a scientific discovery

I was being lobbied.

Who can be reimbursed for providing medical care is one of the issues considered by my new committee, Health and Government Operations.

We call them turf battles.

Yesterday afternoon, I was being lobbied by an opthamologist.

Dr. Laura Green opposes a bill that would authorize optometrists to perform certain surgical procedures.

I asked her if she knew Arnall Patz.

In the early 1950s, Dr. Patz and a colleague proved that oxygen therapy was the cause of an epidemic of blindness among thousands of premature babies.

“I didn’t know Dr. Patz,” Dr. Green replied. “However, with far more premature babies surviving, his discovery means that they will not be blinded by excessive oxygen.”

Arnall Patz was a friend of my family.

I read this diary entry to Ellen Patz, his widow.

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