On Christmas day, the New York Times posted a great story by Lawrence K. Altman on Houston’s renowned Dr. Michael DeBakey, who became the oldest living recipient of the heart surgery he helped pioneer.
It’s a fascinating tale of how Dr. DeBakey actually diagnosed himself, left a directive advising no surgery, and was eventually overruled by his wife and the Methodist Hospital ethics board (interestingly enough, given the determination by some hospitals in Houston to end lives deemed unworthy).
Houston’s newspaper of record was forced to run a short AP account of the New York Times story. Apparently, the New York Times reporter has a longtime relationship with Dr. DeBakey, and that helped secure this great story for the newspaper:
Dr. DeBakey agreed to talk, and permitted his doctors to talk, because of a professional relationship of decades with this reporter, who is also a physician, and because he wanted to set the record straight for the public about what happened and explain how a man nearly 100 years old could survive.
That’s the second time in a week that the New York Times has published a story with a Houston angle. Does that mean our little city is becoming world class?
BLOGVERSATION: Houston’s Clear Thinkers,
