August 7 – On This Day in Medical History
Medical milestones, landmark publications, and notable births and deaths associated with August 7.
Events
1963 — Patrick Bouvier Kennedy, son of U.S. President John F. Kennedy and First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy, was born prematurely and developed neonatal respiratory distress syndrome (hyaline membrane disease) shortly after birth; the highly publicised case helped thrust RDS and newborn intensive care into national focus. Contemporary reviews of surfactant therapy explicitly link the public impact of Patrick Kennedy’s death with increased awareness and subsequent research momentum in RDS treatment
Births
No major medical milestones added for this date yet — this page is being expanded
Deaths
1974 – Virginia Apgar (1909-1974), American anesthesiologist; designed the APGAR scoring system for newborns (1953)
Further reading
- Hallman M, Herting E. Historical perspective on surfactant therapy: Transforming hyaline membrane disease to respiratory distress syndrome. Semin Fetal Neonatal Med. 2023 Dec;28(6):101493.
BA MA (Oxon) MBChB (Edin) FACEM FFSEM. Emergency physician, Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital. Passion for rugby; medical history; medical education; and asynchronous learning #FOAMed evangelist. Co-founder and CTO of Life in the Fast lane | On Call: Principles and Protocol 4e| Eponyms | Books |