In Memoriam: Dr. George E. Schreiner, the last of the dialysis “Big-Four”

It is with great sadness I recently learnt of the passing of Dr. George Schreiner in the The Washington Post. Dr. Schreiner died from the complications of Alzheimer’s Disease on April 12, 2012. Dr. Schreiner was a giant in nephrology, no question about it, and his energy and intellect will be sorely missed. Perhaps his most important contribution was being at the legislative forefront for federal coverage for dialysis. Without this legislation, I daresay, dialysis would not be covered as effortlessly as it is today in the United States.

Here is a quote from an article by Richard A. Rettig in a book published by the Institute of Medicine:

“The “Big Four” in dialysis in the 1960s included George Schreiner, Willem Kolff, John Merrill, and Belding Scribner. Kolff had invented the artificial kidney machine, and Scribner had invented the vascular access device that made continuous dialysis possible. Merrill led the nation's premier kidney transplant group at the Peter Bent Brigham Hospital in Boston. Schreiner conducted research and ran a major nephrology training program at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. In addition, he was a founder of the American Society for Artificial Internal Organs in 1954, served as its president in 1959-1960, and for 29 years edited the Transactions of its annual meeting. He was also a founder of the American Society of Nephrology in 1967. In 1966 and 1967, he served as a member of the Gottschalk Committee.

Of these four, Scribner and Schreiner played important political roles in the development of federal government policy, the former as the outside advocate, the latter as the Washington strategist and tactician…. Schreiner, in addition to bearing the above responsibilities, was also active in the National Kidney Foundation, serving as its president from 1968 to 1970. After that, he served several years as chairman of its legislative committee. “

Dr. Schreiner’s story is recounted in an article here. In addition, there is a great article by Dr. Schreiner in the American Journal of Kidney Disease (it is not available open access).

“I hope that someday the kidney patients, the nephrology community, and the businessmen who have launched careers based on the American market for ESRD care will find some way to honor and thank Senator Long, his supporting colleagues, the many “Hill” staff who worked on the amendment, especially Jay Constantine, Bill Fullerton and Dr Jim Mongan, Charles Plante, Stretch Becker, Ira Griefer and the other greats of the NKF, and all the wonderful transplant surgeons and nephrologists who testified along the way. I am, of course, exceedingly proud of my own part in making the idea a reality. Not often is a physician granted the opportunity to help 200,000 patients.”

On behalf of all dialysis patients and the health care workers who take care of them - Thank You Dr. Schreiner!