Talk:Marvin Kwitko

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This article was nominated for deletion on 3 October 2006. The result of the discussion was nomination withdrawn.

Contents 1 Comment 2 Better citations needed 3 Sources 4 Fully Cited and Referenced

[edit] Comment

I redid everything. The initial post that was up for the first 15 min was quickly written and just jumbled thoughts. Now that I've written the actual biography it fits the usual Wiki format and there arent any gramatical errors. Thanks, Alexander Dankoff. --Beuh pudding 10:21, 3 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Better citations needed

Regarding: "Dedicated to his profession, Kwitko was the first doctor in Canada to perform lens implants used for cataract surgery (1967)[1], and the first doctor in Canada to perform Radial Keratodomy surgery (1979)." The RK assertion has no reference or citation and the citation for IOLs does not meet the guidelines at WP:RS. That citation indicates that the CMAJ accepted an obituary submitted by a reader who is anonymous to those who wish to fact check. -AED 16:45, 3 October 2006 (UTC)

If it was a small local newspaper I would agree, but the Canadian Medical Association Journal is an eminent peer reviewed professional journal. A claim that a person was the first to perform groundbreaking new procedures would have been examined by experts in the field before publication. After publication the claim would be subject to peer review by the widest professionally qualified readership possible. A false claim, even in an obituary, would have provoked outrage and tarnished the reputation of the journal. Publications like the CMAJ are very careful not to let that happen, which is why we lend great credibility to material they publish. --Dave 21:16, 3 October 2006 (UTC)

The credibility of professional journals refers to the quality of the research reviewed and published. The obituary section contains information "submitted by readers" and is not peer-reviewed. I believe "He was the first doctor in Canada to perform lens implants during cataract surgery." appears in quotes to emphasize that the material was not verified by them. The assertion is probably true, so it shouldn't be difficult to come up with some other reference if it is. -AED 21:24, 3 October 2006 (UTC)

This link states: "His father, Marvin Kwitko, MD, now deceased, was president and founder of the Canadian Implant Society and one of the first two surgeons to implant IOLs in Canada." Now I'm wondering who else they're talking about. -AED 22:09, 3 October 2006 (UTC)

"The modern era began in 1967 when 5 of us (Herve Byron, Miles Galin, Henry Hirschman, Marvin Kwitko, and myself) implanted our first lenses. On December 4 and 5, 1967, I implanted 11 lenses, 6 with intracapsular extraction and 5 with extracapsular." (Norman S. Jaffe, MD in this ref ). I found it yesterday while Googling for references on Dr Kwitko. --Dave 09:26, 4 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Sources

Here's parts of two news articles I cited which can be used in the article. ~ trialsanderrors 20:02, 3 October 2006 (UTC)

Medical Post October 7, 1997, Ross, Marvin

Canadian recalls bringing cataract surgery home

FORT ERIE, ONT. - Cataract surgery is so successful "we can now return patients to vision that they haven't had since they were in their early 20s," according to an industry expert.

Dr. Pat Teal, an ophthalmologist in Fort Erie, Ont. and the president of the Canadian Association of Ophthalmologists said about the 30th anniversary of the introduction of modern cataract surgery that "techniques have evolved from a very difficult and dangerous procedure to one that takes about 20 minutes to perform and often requires no sutures."

While today patients are able to see with minimal refractive correction after surgery, in the 1960s "they were basically disabled," said Montreal surgeon Dr. Marvin Kwitko, who introduced modern cataract surgery into Canada.

He began his practice in 1961 and said that he was struck by the problems that people had after the old - style operation. The aphakic glasses they had to wear magnified images 30 times and gave them no peripheral vision. Aside from the unattractive appearance of such glasses, these patients had problems crossing the street or walking down stairs.

Maclean's, March 11, 1991, JOHN GAULT

Reshaping vision

So far, only about 100 Canadians have undergone the new laser procedure. But thousands have had their vision corrected by an older form of eye surgery called radial keratotomy. Introduced into Canada about 10 years ago by Montreal ophthalmologist Dr. Marvin Kwitko, radial keratotomy is performed with a diamond scapel. The purpose of both operations is the same: to reshape the cornea of the eye to reduce the curvature that causes light rays to converge too soon, in front of the retina; perfect vision requires that they converge on the retina. One of the advantages of the new laser procedure is that it is less invasive, because the technique does not penetrate the cornea as deeply as radial keratotomy. Still, not all Canadians can afford the operations, which cost between $ 1,500 and $ 2,000 per eye and which provincial health insurance plans do not cover.

When the new technique was first used in Canada last year, it led to a short, public dispute between Gimbel and Kwitko. In a letter to the Calgary Herald in December, Kwitko said that it was "totally irresponsible" of Gimbel to perform the operation before Canadian guidelines had been drawn up. For his part, Gimbel said that he was voluntarily following protocols established in the United States and was reporting his results indirectly to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Subsequently, Kwitko served on a committee that helped to draw up Canadian guidelines, which will allow a limited number of laser operations to be performed during a period of clinical trials. A Toronto ophthalmologist, Dr. Joseph Weinstock, began performing laser eye surgery in October, and Kwitko said that he plans to install laser-surgery equipment in Montreal later this year.

[edit] Fully Cited and Referenced

All the statements in the article are now referenced and cited to peer reviewed journals. The fact that he was an important canadian ophthalmologist is cited, as well as the facts that he was the first in canada to do his repsective procedures. Every single one of the books he wrote is referenced to their buy websites on amazon. Its referenced to the Knights of the Order of St Johns that he was knighted. Two of his scholarships are referenced to their websites, the second reference may not be perfect but makes reference to someone winning his scholarship that year which is proof that it does indeed exist. I beleive the first one may be discontinued which is why I cant find it anymore, but it did exist. If it really needs a reference to be there I'll remove it. I think its obvious at this point that he was very influencial in his feild and that he helped a lot of people. I hope at this point the articles deletion nomination will be removed and it can stick. I really wanna thank everyone who helped me write this page and I think it really turned out perfectly. --Beuh pudding 05:54, 4 October 2006 (UTC)

Good work on the article! I think there are still a couple rough spots, but the article is much improved. Regarding:

"Kwitko... was a Canadian ophthalmologist who pioneered in cataract surgery and laser eye surgery.[1]"

I will admit to not knowing much about Kwitko, but at this point I'm not sure that referring to him as a pioneer is the best choice of words. To me, being a pioneer in cataract surgery indicates that he invented or developed a technique or techniques that are or were considered revolutionary to the field (e.g. Harold Ridley's intraocular lens or Charles Kelman's phacoemulsification). Perhaps Kwitko has such credits to his name of which I am not aware. Although the first citation confirms that he "introduced modern cataract surgery into Canada", I think being a pioneer is more than being the first to perform a particular surgery in a certain region. That citation also does not confirm that he was a pioneer in laser eye surgery. The third citation indicates that he introduced refractive surgery (i.e. RK) to Canada, but not laser eye surgery. For what we have to work with right now, I would suggest the following:

"Kwitko... was a Canadian ophthalmologist who introduced modern cataract surgery and radial keratotomy to Canada"

Regarding the following sentence:

"He is one of Canada’s most distinguished ophthalmologic writers and surgeons.[2]"

I'm not certain how citing one of Kwitko's books confirms how well he is distinguished. Finally, I've also seen "Canadian Implant Society" as "Canadian Implant Association". Is there an official link or more authoritative source for the organization's name? -AED 20:24, 4 October 2006 (UTC)