- Email: [email protected]
Alan Godfrey Johnson
Obituary
Alan Godfrey Johnson Leading gastrointestinal surgeon and medical ethicist. He was born in Epsom Downs, UK, on Jan 19, 1938, and died after a myocardial infarction in Wotton, UK, on Oct 15, 2006, aged 68 years. Alan Johnson was a surgeon who comported his life and clinical practice according to strong, practical ethical principles. “He was a man who was very interested in what was right, professionally and personally”, recalls his friend and colleague Bill Thomas, director of surgery at the Sheffield Teaching Hospitals, Sheffield, UK. Johnson had an interest in the biliary system. His approach to medicine was perhaps typified by a randomised trial he did that was the first to compare laparoscopic and mini-cholecystectomy gall-bladder surgery (Lancet 1996; 347: 98–994). It was heralded by this journal as a new gold standard for surgical trials. “It was truly a landmark in surgical research”, said Professor Sir James Underwood, dean of the faculty of medicine at the University of Sheffield, who first met Johnson in 1979. Some of Johnson’s other notable contributions were his studies of gastroduodenal motility and aspects of biliary and upper-gastrointestinal surgery, including the function of the pylorus in health and disease. He made the first recordings in human beings of coordinated gastroduodenal contractions, pioneered sclerotherapy for oesophageal varices, selective vagotomy for peptic ulcer, and was an authority on bile-duct reconstruction. He also discovered new features of gastric motility, including the role of the hormone cholecystokinin. Later in life, Johnson became a vocal proponent of bariatric 2048
surgery, and was the first President of the British Obesity Surgery Society. Johnson’s surgical skills were allied to a strong interest in the science underlying his work. “He was very concerned about the scientific and ethical basis of surgery”, says Thomas. A former trainee, Ansar Haroun, professor of psychiatry and law at the University of California San Diego School of Medicine, recalls how “He combined excellence in science, and the craft of surgery, with actually practising the moral life. After studying under him, I wanted to be like him.” Underwood concurs with this view: “He was a great role-model, not just for surgeons but for colleagues in all specialties.” Johnson studied medicine at Trinity College, Cambridge University, Cambridge, and University College Hospital, London, qualifying in 1962. After pre-registration posts, he moved to Charing Cross Hospital where he stayed for 12 years. In 1979, he went to the University of Sheffield as professor of surgery, where he remained until he retired in 2003. As well as working as a surgeon, Johnson was deeply interested in the teaching of medical ethics. His strongly held Christian beliefs informed his views, but he was never belligerent in their expression. “He was never a tablethumping fundamentalist, but he knew what he believed and was willing to speak out for what he thought right”, said Thomas. Johnson also enjoyed expressing those views in print. He wrote six books including his last volume, Making Sense of Medical Ethics, written jointly with his son Paul Johnson, a paediatric surgeon, and published last month. He published many research papers, and contributed chapters to 36 books on gastrointestinal surgery. Between 1998 and 2002, he was Chairman of a Standing Medical Advisory Committee to the Secretary of State for Health. In 1998, he chaired the working party that produced the first detailed guidance on ethics for surgeons in the UK. Johnson’s Christian faith marked every aspect of his life and work. He was a burgess of Sheffield churches, and was President of the Christian Medical Fellowship. It was a commitment he shared with his father, Douglas Johnson, a physician and influential theologian who founded the Inter-Varsity Fellowship, a nationwide evangelical movement in British universities. He was a gentle, earnest man, Thomas recalls. In his youth, he played hockey and cricket for his school, university, and hospital, and throughout his life enjoyed music and played the piano and organ. Johnson died during a visit to his holiday cottage, the place where his family had been evacuated during World War II. He had a heart attack in the church yard of St John’s Wotton, where he was due to preach on “the place of compassion in medicine”. He is survived by his wife, Esther, and his three children, Paul, Andrew, and Fyona.
Stephen Pincock [email protected]
www.thelancet.com Vol 368 December 9, 2006
Alan Godfrey Johnson Leading gastrointestinal surgeon and medical ethicist. He was born in Epsom Downs, UK, on Jan 19, 1938, and died after a myocardial infarction in Wotton, UK, on Oct 15, 2006, aged 68 years. Alan Johnson was a surgeon who comported his life and clinical practice according to strong, practical ethical principles. “He was a man who was very interested in what was right, professionally and personally”, recalls his friend and colleague Bill Thomas, director of surgery at the Sheffield Teaching Hospitals, Sheffield, UK. Johnson had an interest in the biliary system. His approach to medicine was perhaps typified by a randomised trial he did that was the first to compare laparoscopic and mini-cholecystectomy gall-bladder surgery (Lancet 1996; 347: 98–994). It was heralded by this journal as a new gold standard for surgical trials. “It was truly a landmark in surgical research”, said Professor Sir James Underwood, dean of the faculty of medicine at the University of Sheffield, who first met Johnson in 1979. Some of Johnson’s other notable contributions were his studies of gastroduodenal motility and aspects of biliary and upper-gastrointestinal surgery, including the function of the pylorus in health and disease. He made the first recordings in human beings of coordinated gastroduodenal contractions, pioneered sclerotherapy for oesophageal varices, selective vagotomy for peptic ulcer, and was an authority on bile-duct reconstruction. He also discovered new features of gastric motility, including the role of the hormone cholecystokinin. Later in life, Johnson became a vocal proponent of bariatric 2048
surgery, and was the first President of the British Obesity Surgery Society. Johnson’s surgical skills were allied to a strong interest in the science underlying his work. “He was very concerned about the scientific and ethical basis of surgery”, says Thomas. A former trainee, Ansar Haroun, professor of psychiatry and law at the University of California San Diego School of Medicine, recalls how “He combined excellence in science, and the craft of surgery, with actually practising the moral life. After studying under him, I wanted to be like him.” Underwood concurs with this view: “He was a great role-model, not just for surgeons but for colleagues in all specialties.” Johnson studied medicine at Trinity College, Cambridge University, Cambridge, and University College Hospital, London, qualifying in 1962. After pre-registration posts, he moved to Charing Cross Hospital where he stayed for 12 years. In 1979, he went to the University of Sheffield as professor of surgery, where he remained until he retired in 2003. As well as working as a surgeon, Johnson was deeply interested in the teaching of medical ethics. His strongly held Christian beliefs informed his views, but he was never belligerent in their expression. “He was never a tablethumping fundamentalist, but he knew what he believed and was willing to speak out for what he thought right”, said Thomas. Johnson also enjoyed expressing those views in print. He wrote six books including his last volume, Making Sense of Medical Ethics, written jointly with his son Paul Johnson, a paediatric surgeon, and published last month. He published many research papers, and contributed chapters to 36 books on gastrointestinal surgery. Between 1998 and 2002, he was Chairman of a Standing Medical Advisory Committee to the Secretary of State for Health. In 1998, he chaired the working party that produced the first detailed guidance on ethics for surgeons in the UK. Johnson’s Christian faith marked every aspect of his life and work. He was a burgess of Sheffield churches, and was President of the Christian Medical Fellowship. It was a commitment he shared with his father, Douglas Johnson, a physician and influential theologian who founded the Inter-Varsity Fellowship, a nationwide evangelical movement in British universities. He was a gentle, earnest man, Thomas recalls. In his youth, he played hockey and cricket for his school, university, and hospital, and throughout his life enjoyed music and played the piano and organ. Johnson died during a visit to his holiday cottage, the place where his family had been evacuated during World War II. He had a heart attack in the church yard of St John’s Wotton, where he was due to preach on “the place of compassion in medicine”. He is survived by his wife, Esther, and his three children, Paul, Andrew, and Fyona.
Stephen Pincock [email protected]
www.thelancet.com Vol 368 December 9, 2006