Belding Hibbard Scribner (January 18, 1921 – June 19, 2003) was an American physician and a pioneer in

kidney dialysis Kidney dialysis (from Greek , , 'dissolution'; from , , 'through', and , , 'loosening or splitting') is the process of removing excess water, solutes, and toxins from the blood in people whose kidneys can no longer perform these functions natura ...

Biography

Scribner received his medical degree from

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

in 1945. After completing his postgraduate studies at the

Mayo Clinic The Mayo Clinic () is a nonprofit American academic medical center focused on integrated health care, education, and research. It employs over 4,500 physicians and scientists, along with another 58,400 administrative and allied health staff, ...

in Rochester, Minnesota, he joined the faculty of the School of Medicine at the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattle a ...

in 1951. Scribner was married to Ethel Hackett Scribner, and had four children from a previous marriage: Peter, Robert, Thomas and Elizabeth. In 1960, he,

Wayne Quinton Wayne Everett Quinton (January 4, 1921 – January 22, 2015) was a developer of over 30 biomedical devices, including the Quinton catheter. He also invented a lightweight treadmill, for cardiac stress testing - the prototype of those used in fitnes ...

, and David Dillard invented a breakthrough device, the

Scribner shunt Hemodialysis, American and British English spelling differences#ae and oe, also spelled haemodialysis, or simply dialysis, is a process of purifying the blood of a person whose kidneys are not working normally. This type of Kidney dialysis, dial ...

. The device subsequently saved the lives of numerous people with end-stage

kidney disease Kidney disease, or renal disease, technically referred to as nephropathy, is damage to or disease of a kidney. Nephritis is an inflammatory kidney disease and has several types according to the location of the inflammation. Inflammation can ...

around the globe. The first patient treated was Clyde Shields; due to treatment with the new shunt technique, he survived his chronic

kidney failure Kidney failure, also known as end-stage kidney disease, is a medical condition in which the kidneys can no longer adequately filter waste products from the blood, functioning at less than 15% of normal levels. Kidney failure is classified as eit ...

for more than eleven years, dying in 1971. Scribner's invention created a new problem for clinical practice and a moral dilemma for physicians: Who will be treated if possible treatment is limited? The ethical issues raised by this dilemma are known as the

Seattle experience Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region of ...

. In 1964, Scribner's presidential address to the American Society for Artificial Internal Organs discussed the problems of patient selection, termination of treatment, patient suicide, death with dignity, and selection for transplantation. This experience with selecting who would receive dialysis is often recognized as the beginning of bioethics. To provide dialysis on a routine basis outside a research setting, Dr. Scribner turned to the King County Medical Society for sponsorship of a community-supported outpatient dialysis center. James Haviland, then president of the Society, worked to bring Scribner's vision to fruition. As a result, the Seattle Artificial Kidney Center was established in January 1962. Eventually renamed

Northwest Kidney Centers Northwest Kidney Centers is a regional, not-for-profit community-based provider of kidney dialysis, public health education, and research into the causes and treatments of chronic kidney disease. Established in Seattle in 1962, it was the world's ...

, it was the world's first outpatient dialysis treatment center. Outpatient care has been the standard dialysis care delivery model worldwide since Scribner helped establish the

. In 2002, Scribner received the

Albert Lasker Award for Clinical Medical Research Lasker-DeBakey Clinical Medical Research Award is one of four annual awards presented by the Lasker Foundation. The Lasker-DeBakey award is given to honor outstanding work for the understanding, diagnosis, prevention, treatment, and cure of disea ...

in 2002, together with

Willem J. Kolff Willem Johan "Pim" Kolff (February 14, 1911 – February 11, 2009) was a pioneer of hemodialysis, artificial heart, as well as in the entire field of artificial organs. Willem was a member of the Kolff family, an old Dutch patrician fami ...

. Scribner used a red canoe to commute from his houseboat to the hospital every day. He published many scientific papers and books up until his death on June 19, 2003, when a kayaker found his body floating near his houseboat; it was conjectured that he had lost his balance and drowned.Altman, Lawrence K.
"Dr. Belding H. Scribner, Medical Pioneer, Is Dead at 82".''New York Times''.
2003-06-22. Retrieved 2014-12-14.

References

External links

Northwest Kidney Centers

Scribner Courage in Health Care Award
{{DEFAULTSORT:Scribner, Belding H. American nephrologists American medical researchers Scribner, Belding H. Scribner, Belding H. Scribner, Belding H. Scribner, Belding H. Recipients of the Lasker-DeBakey Clinical Medical Research Award Members of the National Academy of Medicine