Marius Barnard (surgeon)

Marius Barnard
Marius Barnard (1968)
Born
Marius Stephanus Barnard

3 November 1927 (1927-11-03)
Beaufort West, Union of South Africa
Died14 November 2014(2014-11-14) (aged 87)
Hermanus, South Africa
EducationUniversity of Cape Town
Years active1950–2001
Known forInventing critical illness insurance and political reforms
SpouseInez[1]
Children3[1]
RelativesChristiaan Barnard (brother)
Medical career
ProfessionSurgeon
InstitutionsGroote Schuur Hospital
Sub-specialtiesCardiothoracic surgery
Heart transplantation

Marius Stephanus Barnard (3 November 1927 – 14 November 2014) was a South African cardiac surgeon and inventor of critical illness insurance.[2][3]

Barnard was a member of the team headed by his brother Christiaan Barnard that performed the world's first human-to-human heart transplantation in 1967.[4] Specifically, he was one of the surgeons who removed the heart from donor Denise Darvall at Groote Schuur Hospital.[5][6] After a 2009 documentary film Hidden Heart suggested that Hamilton Naki removed the donor heart, Barnard was quoted as describing the film as "rubbish, a joke, it’s a total distortion of the facts"[7] and as stating that Naki was at the time "in his bed, about 8 km away from Groote Schuur".[8]

Barnard was motivated by the financial hardship he saw his patients suffer after he had treated their critical illnesses to convince the South African insurance companies to introduce a new type of insurance to cover critical illnesses. Barnard argued that, as a medical doctor, he can repair a man physically, but only insurers can repair a patient's finances.[9] On 6 August 1983 the first critical illness insurance policy was launched.[10]

Barnard was a member of the South African parliament between 1980 and 1989, for the Progressive Federal Party - one of the few political parties that opposed apartheid. He later acted as a technical consultant for Scottish Widows.[4] Barnard received many awards for his contributions to medicine and humanity, and was voted in the top 25 most influential people in the field of health insurance and protection.[11]

He died on 14 November 2014 after battling with prostate cancer.[1][12]

  1. ^ a b c Dolley, Caryn (15 November 2014). "Top heart surgeon Marius Barnard dies". Independent Online. Retrieved 3 December 2017.
  2. ^ "Heart to Heart" (PDF), CoverTen, Incisive Financial Publishing, pp. 11–12, 29, 10 October 2007, archived from the original (PDF) on 19 July 2011
  3. ^ Uwechue, Raph (20 December 1991). Africa Who's who. Africa Journal Limited. ISBN 9780903274173 – via Google Books.
  4. ^ a b "Heart to Heart" (PDF), CoverTen, Incisive Financial Publishing, p. 29, 10 October 2007, archived from the original (PDF) on 19 July 2011
  5. ^ "Hamilton Naki. Apartheid's shadow. How an inspiring life became distorted by politics", The Economist, 14 July 2005, retrieved 14 August 2010
  6. ^ Van Den Ende, J.; Moreira, J.; Basinga, P.; Bisoffi, Z. (13 August 2005), "Department of error", Lancet, 366 (9485): 548, doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(05)67097-3, PMID 16099289, S2CID 54344094
  7. ^ Berger, Sebastien (4 June 2009), "Inspiring tale dismissed as 'rubbish'", The National (Abu Dhabi), archived from the original on 27 May 2014, retrieved 14 August 2010
  8. ^ October, Alicestine (2 June 2009), "Dokkie 'verdraai' Barnard-verhaal", Die Burger, archived from the original on 10 July 2011, retrieved 14 August 2010
  9. ^ HEALTH INSURANCE (PDF), 1996, p. 78, archived from the original (PDF) on 15 October 2007, retrieved 16 October 2007
  10. ^ Defining-Moments-Memoir-Marius Barnard, p. 323
  11. ^ "Heart to Heart" (PDF), CoverTen, Incisive Financial Publishing, pp. 27, 29, 10 October 2007, archived from the original (PDF) on 19 July 2011
  12. ^ Holt, Natalie (14 November 2014). "Architect of critical illness cover passes away". Mortgage Strategy. Archived from the original on 29 November 2014. Retrieved 15 November 2014.