October 25, 1996|By Fred Rasmussen | Fred Rasmussen,SUN STAFF
Dr. Hugh James Davis Jr., who as a professor of gynecology and obstetrics at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine developed the Dalkon Shield birth control device, died Wednesday of pancreatic cancer at his Gibson Island residence. He was 69.
Friends and family remember a compassionate man dedicated to fighting cervical cancer and improving women's health. They recall a language expert -- fluent in Spanish, Japanese, Danish and German -- and a prodigious worker who might rise at 4 a.m. to mull over a new idea, or weed his garden.
"He started out life with big ambitions for humanity, and I guess he was a bit of an idealist," said his daughter, Rikke K. Davis, a lawyer who lives in McLean, Va.
But the deaths, injuries and lawsuits associated with the Dalkon Shield effectively ended what had been a highly distinguished career that included numerous medical patents and the accolades of his peers.
"The litigation that followed the Dalkon Shield was a devastating blow to his career and to his professional pride," said his son, Bruce J. Davis of Gibson Island. "My father was totally committed to the practice of medicine, and to have his intentions questioned was more than he could bear. It totally overshadowed his other accomplishments."
Though only in his mid-50s, Dr. Davis retired from Hopkins in 1982 amid mounting claims over injuries ranging from minor inflammation to infertility and, in some cases, death.
He had invented the intrauterine device in 1968, after searching for a safe alternative to the birth control pill and its then-troublesome side effects. In 1970, A. H. Robbins, a Richmond, Va., pharmaceutical company, purchased the manufacturing rights for the Dalkon Shield from Dr. Davis for $750,000, and put 2.2 million of the devices on the market.
But Robbins discontinued production in 1975. What had once seemed a remarkable achievement instead became the target of nearly 200,000 lawsuits. Under a 1989 settlement, a trust fund of $2.475 billion was established to pay damages.
Some of Dr. Davis' peers believe he, too, was a victim.
"We have to ask how many women in the world were benefited and helped by the Dalkon Shield vs. how many were infected and died, especially in South America and Third World countries. I don't know of any medical treatment that is free of mortality or morbidity," said Dr. Clifford R. Wheeless, associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Johns Hopkins and director of the Institute of Special Pelvic Surgery at Sinai Hospital.
"The concept of the Dalkon Shield was brilliant, but it was picked out for attack because it was the most popular and widely used," said Dr. Theodore A. Baramki, associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Johns Hopkins and head of the division of reproductive endocrinology at Greater Baltimore Medical Center.
"I think it was purely a case of industrial sabotage, and research ++ results proved that other intrauterine devices experienced similar problems," Dr. Baramki said.
Dr. Davis had lofty goals, his daughter said.
"He was concerned with overpopulation in the world and he wanted to make a real contribution to that. He worked with the World Health Organization and the U.S. Agency for International Development towards finding solutions to these problems," she said.
Dr. Davis was born and raised in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico, the son of a government botanist. He was a 1941 graduate of the Kent School in Connecticut and entered the University of Georgia when he was 14. He dropped out of college in 1943 and worked as a reporter for the Atlanta Constitution before joining the Army in 1944. He served in the Pacific with the Army Corps of Engineers.
After being discharged in 1946, he built houses in Florida, then returned to the University of Georgia, where he earned his bachelor's degree in chemistry and biology in 1949. He was a 1953 graduate of the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. After completing his residency, he traveled to Denmark where he joined the National Cancer Center there.
A pioneer in laparoscopy, he held over 30 patents for medical instruments used in abdominal operations such as tubal
ligations. He developed a do-it-yourself kit for the detection of cervical cancer, with which a woman could take samples at home and mail them to a center where they were analyzed. He was also the author of a 1971 book, "Intrauterine Devices for Contraception."
"He was a very ingenious and brilliant physician who was a thinker and an innovator," said Dr. Howard Jones, a former professor of gynecology at Hopkins who, with his wife, heads the Jones Institute for Reproductive Medicine at the Eastern Virginia Medical School in Norfolk.
"But it was a career that was tinged by pathos, and the resultant Dalkon Shield controversy became a deep personal tragedy for him," Dr. Jones said.
In 1991, the results of a scientific study published in the Journal of Clinical Epidemiology challenged the research that condemned the Dalkon Shield and stated that intrauterine devices in general do not increase the risk of pelvic infection. But by that time Dr. Davis was no longer at Hopkins, no longer a star scientist.
"It took a huge toll on him," his daughter said of the litigation and turmoil, "and the emotional strain went on for years and years." Yet, she said, "He didn't totally withdraw from the world. He enjoyed being with people, smoking his cigars, painting and listening to classical music."
In addition to his children, he is survived by his wife of 35 years, the former Jytte Petersen; and a sister, Elaine Golden of Panama City, Fla.
Pub Date: 10/25/96
