Respiratory Failure

The Johns Hopkins doctor who oversaw an asthma experiment in which a young woman died has warned colleagues across the country of the potential danger of giving other research subjects a chemical that might have caused her death. In a letter sent Friday to more than 100 asthma specialists, Dr. Solbert Permutt said the chemical was linked to several cases of respiratory failure in the 1950s, when the compound hexamethonium was used to treat high blood pressure. Although those patients took large doses over an extended period - in contrast to the Hopkins volunteer who inhaled a single dose - Permutt said he wanted to warn colleagues who might consider using the drug in future research.

Steven Muller, former president of the Johns Hopkins University and a major figure in American higher education, died Saturday of respiratory failure at his Washington home. He was 85. A child refugee from Nazi Germany who went on to earn a doctorate in political science at Cornell University, Dr. Muller became the president of Hopkins in 1972. Over the next 18 years, he directed the most ambitious growth of the institution since its founding in 1876, enhancing the national and global prestige of the institution he shepherded.

Steven Muller, former president of the Johns Hopkins University and a major figure in American higher education, died Saturday of respiratory failure at his Washington home. He was 85. A child refugee from Nazi Germany who went on to earn a doctorate in political science at Cornell University, Dr. Muller became the president of Hopkins in 1972. Over the next 18 years, he directed the most ambitious growth of the institution since its founding in 1876, enhancing the national and global prestige of the institution he shepherded.

Eugene Francis Neser, a certified public accountant and World War II veteran, died May 5 of respiratory failure at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center. The longtime Riderwood resident was 84. Born in Baltimore and raised in Druid Hill and Reservoir Hill, Mr. Neser was a 1945 graduate of City College. He enlisted in the Navy and served as a seaman in the Pacific during the waning days of World War II. After the war, he earned a bachelor's degree in accounting from the University of Baltimore.

Harriet B. Braiker, 55, a psychologist and expert on stress management, died of respiratory failure Saturday in Pasadena, Calif. Her many books included The Type E Woman: How to Overcome the Stress of Being Everything to Everybody in 1986, and, after the terrorist attacks, The September 11 Syndrome: Seven Steps to Getting a Grip in Uncertain Times.

Terry Southern, 71, whose screenplays for "Dr. Strangelove" and "Easy Rider" captured an anxiety-ridden, rebellious and spaced-out 1960s America, died Sunday of respiratory failure at St. Luke's Hospital in Manhattan Sunday night after collapsing while teaching a class at Columbia University.

On Saturday, January 17, 2004, ARTHUR LEONARD RICHARDSON died of respiratory failure. He is survived by a daughter, Shirley Russell, two nieces J. Bradford and D. Jenkins, a nephew D. Welling and a host of extended family and friendsA Memorial Service will be held on Saturday, February 7 at 11 A.M. at Douglas Memorial Church, Madison and Lafayette Ave., Baltimore

Harold L. "Red" Stewart,98, who worked for the National Institutes of Health for 32 years before retiring in 1969 as 'N pathology chief of the National Cancer Institute, died Saturday of respiratory failure at the home of a daughter in Bethesda.Philip Lord Carret,101, an investor who started one of the nation's first mutual funds, the Pioneer Fund, died Thursday.Pub Date: 6/02/98

Antonio Espino, 80, one of the last great comics to come out of Mexico's circuses, died Wednesday of respiratory failure in Mexico City. He was popularly known as "Clavillazo" or "Stuck Nail" and started in a Mexico City circus alongside giants such as Mario Moreno, known as "Cantinflas."S.C. Tsiang, 75, an economist who helped Taiwan develop into an economic leader in the 1960s and 1970s, died in Chicago on Oct. 21 after a series of strokes.

Madeline A. "Susie" Loyal, a retired Social Security Administration worker, died March 7 of respiratory failure at Northwest Hospital. She was 71. Madeline Ametra McDuffie was born in Bennettsville, S.C. She attended the Laurinburg Institute in Laurinburg, N.C., before moving to Baltimore, where she graduated in 1958 from Dunbar High School. While at Dunbar, she played the clarinet and was a member of the school's marching band. She attended what is now Morgan State University.

Edward Jonas, a retired diesel mechanic and World War II Navy veteran, died Jan. 4 of respiratory failure at his Auburn, Calif., home. He was 87. Mr. Jonas was born and raised in Richwood, W.Va., where he attended high school. He enlisted in the Navy in January 1941 and during his wartime career served on three ships — and survived the sinking of two of them. Mr. Jonas was assigned to the powder magazine of the cruiser USS Quincy, which sank in August 1942 during the Battle of Savo Island in the Pacific.

Laura L. Levering, a homemaker and traveler, died Sept. 27 of respiratory failure at her daughter's home in The Plains, Va. She was 87. Laura Louise La Montagne, the daughter of a wine importer and a homemaker, was born in New York City. She later moved to Guilford with her family. She attended Greenwood School and graduated in 1940 from the Convent of the Sacred Heart School in Greenwich, Conn. She later made her debut at the Bachelors Cotillion. In 1957, she married J.P. Wade Levering, who was president and chief executive of the National Sash Weight Corp.

Charles H. Stein, 76, Co-founder, chairman and chief executive of the Hardwicke Cos., which built Six Flags Great Adventure in Jackson, N.J., and operated well-known restaurants such as Tavern on the Green and Maxwell's Plum in Manhattan, died Oct. 10 of respiratory failure in Miami Beach, Fla.