MedMal Attorney Tips Hat to Three Nobel Medicine Prize Winners; One Passed Away Before Award Rewarded

This post is unorthodox but I think it is important to recognize the achievements of others, particularly those so worthy of a Nobel Prize. But since this topic is related to my blog of medicine and law, and has an unfortunate yet touching end.

Three scientists won the Nobel Medicine Prize on Monday for their work on the immune system. The three scientists are Bruce Beutler of the United States, Jules Hoffmann of France, and Ralph Steinman of Canada. The Nobel Prize committee noted that these three have "revolutionised our understanding of the immune system by discovering key principles for its activation." Their work had looked at the complex immune system and how it signals certain molecules that will unleash antibodies and killer T-cells to respond to invading microbes.
Their research created avenues for new drugs and therapy routines such conditions such as asthma, Crohn's disease, rheumatoid arthritis, infections, inflammatory diseases, and most importantly, cancer.

However, scientist Ralph Steinman of Canada-who prolonged his own life using therapy and treatments he pioneered, sadly passed away on Friday at the age of 68; the Nobel Prize was awarded today on Monday. This created some confusion amongst the Nobel Prize committee because the award cannot be awarded to a deceased individual. However, after deliberation, the committee found that Steinman was chosen for the award before he passed away; essentially that the award was not given to him when he had been deceased, it was just not delivered to him yet.

Connecting him to the Capital Region, in 2009, Albany Medical Center awarded him Prize in Medicine and Biomedical Research which he shared with Bruce Beutler. All of his achievements were downplayed as he was a humble individual doing miraculous research.

I salute Mr. Ralph Steinman - the fields of medicine and law, among other fields, needs more individuals like you. I am upset you could not receive your award, but I'm sure you understood you were likely to be recognized on the greatest stage for academics.

What do you think about the story of Mr. Steinman? Are there any individuals in law or medicine you want to recognize? I would love to hear from you! I welcome your phone call on my toll-free cell at 1-866-889-6882 or you can drop me an e-mail at jfisher@mmolaw.net. You are always welcome to request my FREE book, The Seven Deadly Mistakes of Malpractice Victims, at the home page of my website at www.protectingpatientrights.com.