Dr. Herbert L. Abrams, Who Worked Against Nuclear War, Dies at 95

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Source: New York Times

Dr. Herbert L. Abrams, a radiologist at Stanford and Harvard Universities and a founder of International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War, which won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1985 for its work in publicizing the health consequences of atomic warfare, died on Jan. 20 at his home in Palo Alto, Calif. He was 95.

The death was confirmed by his son, John.

In the late 1970s, Dr. Abrams became interested in the health implications of nuclear policy. “It began to dawn on me that these weapons of annihilation were being considered for use in the settlement of disputes between nations when I had honestly not thought that that was ever in the cards,” he told The Los Angeles Times in 1989.

With a group of American and Soviet doctors, he helped create International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War, with the goal of publicizing the health risks of a nuclear exchange and countering theories that physicians might be able to save enough people to continue civilized life. He later called nuclear weapons and nuclear war “the central health issue of the 20th century.”

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Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/29/science/herbert-abrams-worked-against-nuclear-war.html

[retrowire]

1. We'll keep up your resistance to a nuclear war sir. rest easy now. nt

[ErisDiscordia]

2. We've advanced since WWII. Now we use nuclear reactors and nuclear waste dumps!

And depleted uranium shells!

Restoring the earth is beyond human capability, perhaps. It's certainly beyond human willingness.

[Dont call me Shirley]

3. Herbert...

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4. Former Defense Secretary William J. Perry praised the work of Dr. Abrams and the physicians’ group

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/herbert-l-abrams-a-founder-of-doctors-anti-nuclear-group-that-won-1985-nobel-peace-prize-dies-at-95/2016/01/30/2d20e980-c712-11e5-a4aa-f25866ba0dc6_story.html

Herbert L. Abrams, a founder of doctors’ anti-nuclear group that won 1985 Nobel Peace Prize, dies at 95

By Martin Weil January 30 at 7:07 PM

Herbert L. Abrams, a pioneering physician, student of presidential disability and co-founder of a medical group that received the Nobel Peace Prize for its work to eliminate the possibility of nuclear war, died Jan. 20 at his home in Palo Alto, Calif. He was 95.

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Former Defense Secretary William J. Perry praised the work of Dr. Abrams and the physicians’ group in a statement released by Stanford: “The forces maintaining nuclear weapons and creating the danger that we might use them are very powerful and very hard to stop, and Herb and the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War were an early voice of sanity in this field.”

Dr. Abrams’s career included what he called the “four dimensions of bio-medicine”: patient care, research, teaching and advocacy. As a radiologist, he had a major role in developing what is known as angiography, or a technique of creating images of the blood vessels and heart.

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Known for his social awareness and humanitarian concerns, Dr. Abrams was also considered strict and demanding in his approach to the physician’s duties. During his nearly 20 years as a professor at Harvard University’s medical school, diagnostic computed tomography (CT) equipment was sometimes in short supply in the Boston area. Resident physicians working under his authority sometimes chafed at his insistence that they make time to use the equipment and keep it constantly available for diagnostic purposes.

“You’re doing this,” he reportedly said. “This is your responsibility and you need to get the residents comfortable with it.”

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5. Herbert Abrams' multi-faceted career embraced patient care, teaching and medical research as well as

http://news.stanford.edu/news/2016/january/herbert-abrams-obit-012616.html

Stanford Report, January 26, 2016

Herbert Abrams, pioneering radiologist and anti-nuclear activist at Stanford, dies at 95

Herbert Abrams' multi-faceted career embraced patient care, teaching and medical research as well as a passionate advocacy for world peace.

By Steve Fyffe, Susan Ipaktchian and Elaine Ray

Renowned radiologist Herbert Leroy Abrams, who co-founded the Nobel Prize-winning organization International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War, died Jan. 20 at his Palo Alto home. He was 95.

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Anti-nuclear advocacy

Toward the end of the Boston years, in the early eighties, Abrams developed a keen interest in the effects of ionizing radiation and nuclear weapons and the problems of accidental or inadvertent nuclear war, which led to the next phase of his career as an anti-nuclear activist.

"He leveraged his training in radiology to become one of the leading experts on the health effects of low-dose radiation," said David Relman, professor of medicine at Stanford and current co-director of CISAC.

"It's a problem that doesn't get as much attention as the catastrophic effects of a nuclear blast, but the long-term consequences of low-dose radiation was something that Herb … helped promote as a serious issue, worthy of attention and study," Relman added.

Abrams discussed the threats posed by radiation in a story published in the Spring 1986 issue of Stanford Medicine magazine. He said that, for physicians, nuclear weapons and nuclear war were "the central health issue of the 20th century."

"We need to educate not only our colleagues and our students, but our constituents – the patients – and ultimately policymakers about the consequences of nuclear war," Abrams said in the article. "Medical students are seldom taught about the effects of radiation. It's important because there have been radiation disasters unrelated to nuclear weapons, and there will be more in the future."

He was founding vice president of International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW), which won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1985, just five years after the organization was established. He also served for many years on the national board of directors and as national co-chair of Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR), a U.S. affiliate of IPPNW.

"His contributions were huge," said Scott Sagan, professor of political science at Stanford. Sagan added that under Abrams' leadership the IPPNW "did yeoman's work to try to educate the public and world leaders about the consequences of nuclear war at a time when many, including some in the Reagan administration, were minimizing the consequences of nuclear weapons use."

Abrams returned to Stanford in 1985 as a professor of radiology, but spent most of his time in research at CISAC, working to link various disciplines and philosophies in the political, international and academic arenas to create a better understanding of international security during the nuclear age.

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