Henry Heimlich

Henry Jay Heimlich (born February 3, 1920), an American physician, is primarily known for the invention of the Heimlich Maneuver.

Personal life
Heimlich was born Henry Judah Heimlich in Wilmington, Delaware to Philip and Mary Heimlich. He later changed his middle name to "Jay." He graduated from Cornell University with a B.A. in 1941, and received his M.D. from the Weill Cornell Medical College in 1943. On June 4, 1951, Heimlich married Jane Murray, daughter of ballroom dancing entrepreneur Arthur Murray. Heimlich's wife co-authored a book on homeopathy and was sole author of What Your Doctor Won't Tell You, which advocated chelation therapy and other so-called "alternative therapies."

Heimlich is the second cousin of actor and director Anson Williams (nee Anson Heimlick), best known for his portrayal of Warren "Potsie" Weber on the long-running television series Happy Days.

Heimlich maneuver
Heimlich first published his findings about the maneuver in a June 1974 informal article in Emergency Medicine entitled, "Pop Goes the Cafe Coronary." On June 19, 1974, the Seattle Post reported that retired restaurant owner Isaac Piha used the procedure to rescue choking victim Irene Bogachus in Bellevue, WA.

From 1976-1985, the American Heart Association and American Red Cross choking rescue guidelines taught rescuers to first perform a series of backblows to remove the FBAO (foreign body airway obstruction); if backblows failed, then rescuers were taught to proceed with the Heimlich maneuver (a/k/a abdominal thusts). After a July 1985 American Heart Association conference, backblows were removed from choking rescue guidelines. From 1986-2005, the Heimlich maneuver was the only recommended treatment for choking in the published guidelines of the American Heart Association and the American Red Cross. In 2006, both organizations changed course and "downgraded" the use of the Heimlich maneuver, essentially returning to the pre-1986 guidelines. For conscious victims, the new guidelines recommend first applying backslaps; if this method failed to remove the airway obstruction, rescuers were to then apply abdominal thrusts. For unconscious victims, the new guidelines recommend chest thrusts, a method first recommended in a 1976 study by Charles Guildner MD whose results were duplicated in a year 2000 study by Audun Langhelle MD. The 2006 guidelines also eliminated the phrase "Heimlich maneuver" and replaced it with the more descriptive "abdominal thrust."

Dr. Heimlich's promotion of the use of abdominal thrusts in cases of near-drowning has been dogged by allegations of case fraud, based on the research of his son, Peter M. Heimlich. The 2005 drowning rescue guidelines of the American Heart Association removed all citations or articles written by Dr. Heimlich and warn against the use of the Heimlich maneuver for drowning rescue as unproven and dangerous, since it may induce vomiting leading to aspiration.

Year 2005 choking rescue guidelines published by the American Heart Association ceased referring to "the Heimlich maneuver" and instead called the procedure "abdominal thrusts." The guideliness also state that chest thrusts and back blows may also be effective treatments for choking.

In 2003, Heimlich's 30-year colleague, Edward A. Patrick MD PhD of Union, Kentucky, claimed to be the uncredited co-developer of the maneuver, a claim denied by Heimlich.

Malariotherapy
Heimlich's promotion of "malariotherapy" has attracted media attention since the publication of a 1994 Los Angeles Times front page article by Pamela Warrick. Jason Zengerle, in an April 23, 2007 article for The New Republic states, "Of all the battles Heimlich has waged, none has proven as controversial as malariatherapy--the practice of intentionally infecting a patient with malaria in order to treat another ailment." After years of unsuccessful attempts to cure cancer and Lyme disease with malaria, Heimlich has turned his attention to HIV. According to Zengerle, "Eminent immunology experts, such as the director of the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Anthony Fauci, dismissed Heimlich's idea as 'quite dangerous and scientifically unsound.'"