William B. Schwartz, 86, Noted Physician and Health Expert
(March 17, 2009) - William B. Schwartz, MD, 86, of Los Angeles, California, a kidney disease specialist who later became one of the nation’s leading thinkers on the intersection of medicine and economics, died on Sunday after a long illness.
Dr. Schwartz, who authored or co-authored several books and hundreds of articles on subjects ranging from electrolyte disorders to the use of artificial intelligence in medicine to the rationing of health care, had a long career at Tufts University and Tufts Medical Center. From 1976-1992, he was the Vannevar Bush University Professor and Professor of Medicine at Tufts University. He founded Tufts Medical Center’s Division of Nephrology in 1950 and served as its chief until 1971, when he became Chairman of the Department of Medicine at Tufts Medical Center. On the 50th anniversary of the nephrology division in 2000, it was named in his honor. Dr. Schwartz served as Chairman of Medicine and physician-in-chief at Tufts Medical Center until 1976.
In his work at Tufts University and Tufts Medical Center, he personally trained more than 60 nephrologists, many of whom became preeminent in their field. He was known for his rigorous attention to detail in scientific analysis, which he imparted to the physicians he trained. He led landmark discoveries in the physiology and management of acid-base and electrolyte disorders, in understanding potassium depletion, and glomerulonephritis, a disease characterized by the inflammation of the small blood vessels in the kidneys. Along with the late Frederic C. Bartter, MD, he discovered and defined the characteristics of the syndrome of inappropriate anti-diuretic hormone (SIADH, also known as the Schwartz-Bartter Syndrome), in which there is excess secretion of the antidiuretic hormone, disturbing the critical water balance in the body.
In 1971, Dr. Schwartz spent a summer at the RAND Corporation, which spawned a second career in health policy and health services research. He remained a principal advisor to Health Science Program at the RAND for more then a decade. In 1984, he co-authored (with economist Henry Aaron), The Painful Prescription: Rationing Hospital Care, which examined health care in the United Kingdom, and its implications for American health care. Before the advent of MRIs and other increasingly expensive medical technologies, Aaron and Dr. Schwartz put forward the notion that technology would drive health care costs to a large extent. In a 1998 book, Life Without Disease: the Pursuit of Medical Utopia, Dr. Schwartz explored the impact of genetic discoveries on medicine, health spending, and society. Dr. Schwartz’s essays and analyses appeared regularly in national newspapers and health policy journals, and government and industry leaders consulted with him on health policy issues.
After retiring from Tufts Medical Center, Dr. Schwartz moved to California, where he was an emeritus professor of medicine at the University of Southern California.
He leaves his wife Tressa Ruslander Miller of Los Angeles, his son Dr. Eric Schwartz and his wife Dr. Gayle Tillman of Weston, Mass, his daughter Laurie Schwartz Naparstek and her husband Jay Naparstek of Worcester, Mass., his stepson Joshua D. Miller and his wife Lori Miller of San Jose, Calif, his daughter-in-law Ellen Cohen of Newton, Mass, his former wife Carol Schwartz of Newton, Mass., and five grandchildren. He was also the father of the late Kenneth B. Schwartz.
He was a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and Insitute of Medicine, a past president of the American Society of Nephrology, a past chairman of the Scientific Advisory Board of the National Kidney Foundation. He received his undergraduate and medical degree at Duke Univeristy.
A memorial service will be held on Friday at 11 a.m. at Hillside Memorial Park and Mortuary in Los Angeles. A second memorial service will be held later in Boston.
Media Contact
Julie Jette
617-636-3265
jjette@tuftsmedicalcenter.org