Marius Barnard (surgeon)

Marius Stephanus Barnard (3 November 1927 – 14 November 2014) was a South African cardiac surgeon and inventor of critical illness insurance.[1][2]

Marius Barnard
Marius Barnard (1968)
Born	Marius Stephanus Barnard 3 November 1927 Beaufort West, Union of South Africa
Died	14 November 2014 (aged 87) Hermanus, South Africa
Education	University of Cape Town
Years active	1950–2001
Known for	cardiac surgery, inventing critical illness insurance and political reforms
Relatives	Christiaan Barnard
Medical career
Profession	Surgeon
Institutions	Groote Schuur Hospital
Sub-specialties	Cardiothoracic surgery Heart transplantation

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.[3] Specifically, he was one of the surgeons who removed the heart from donor Denise Darvall at Groote Schuur Hospital.[4][5] 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"[6] and as stating that Naki was at the time "in his bed, about 8 km away from Groote Schuur".[7]

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.[8] On 6 August 1983 the first critical illness insurance policy was launched.[9]

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.[3] Barnard has 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.[10]

He died on 14 November 2014 after battling with prostate cancer.[11][12]

References

1. "Heart to Heart" (PDF), CoverTen, Incisive Financial Publishing, pp. 11–12, 29, 10 October 2007, archived from the original (PDF) on 19 July 2011
2. Uwechue, Raph (20 December 1991). Africa Who's who. Africa Journal Limited. ISBN 9780903274173 – via Google Books.
3. "Heart to Heart" (PDF), CoverTen, Incisive Financial Publishing, p. 29, 10 October 2007, archived from the original (PDF) on 19 July 2011
4. "Hamilton Naki. Apartheid's shadow. How an inspiring life became distorted by politics", The Economist, 14 July 2005, retrieved 14 August 2010
5. 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
6. 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
7. October, Alicestine (2 June 2009), "Dokkie 'verdraai' Barnard-verhaal", Die Burger, retrieved 14 August 2010
8. HEALTH INSURANCE (PDF), 1996, p. 78, archived from the original (PDF) on 15 October 2007, retrieved 16 October 2007
9. Defining-Moments-Memoir-Marius Barnard, p. 323
10. "Heart to Heart" (PDF), CoverTen, Incisive Financial Publishing, pp. 27, 29, 10 October 2007, archived from the original (PDF) on 19 July 2011
11. Dolley, Caryn (15 November 2014). "Top heart surgeon Marius Barnard dies". Independent Online. Retrieved 3 December 2017.
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.