Background

Louis Lasagna was born on February 22, 1923, in Queens, New York. He was the son of Joseph and Carmen Lasagna.

Education

Louis Lasagna earned his bachelor's degree at Rutgers University in 1943 and his medical degree from Columbia University in 1947.

Career

After doing his internship and residency, Louis Lasagna started to serve as an assistant professor of pharmacology at Johns Hopkins University in 1954. He remained there through the 1960s, becoming an associate professor in 1959. Lasagna next joined the University of Rochester faculty in 1970, where he became the first Chairman of the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology at the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, which he held for the next decade. In 1984, he was named Dean of the Sackler School of Graduate Biomedical Sciences at Tufts University, the position he held until 2002. There, he also held the position of professor of pharmacology and toxicology. In 1976 Louis Lasagna founded the Center for the Study of Drug Development, which later became part of Tufts. He served as Director of the Center until 1998. Louis Lasagna also served as a consultant to the Food and Drug Administration and several other government agencies.

Lasagna made a name for himself in the field of pharmacology when he published the paper, A Study of the Placebo Response, in 1954. Here, he showed that the psychology of a patient could be an extremely significant factor in medical treatment. The paper was so influential in the medical community that in 1997 the journal Lancet named it one of the most important medical achievements in the history of medicine. In 1964, he rewrote the Hippocratic Oath to remind doctors they are treating human beings, not diseases and injuries, thus creating the modern version of the oath that is still often used in medical schools today. Besides, Lasagna was the author of The Doctors' Dilemmas, Life, Death and the Doctor, and Phenylpropanolamine: A Review. In his books The Doctors' Dilemma and Life and Death and the Doctor, Lasagna addressed the ethics and role of being a doctor. He also edited Controversies in Therapeutics. Louis Lasagna died on August 6, 2003, following a long battle with lymphoma, when he was 80 years old. His accomplishments extend over a vast array of subjects. Through his teaching, he personally influenced the lives of thousands of individuals. Indirectly, his legacy continues to affect millions.

Achievements

• Louis Lasagna was well known as an educator and writer. He taught for almost fifty years. Besides, he was a founder of the Center for the Study of Drug Development. However, Lasagna was perhaps best known for his modern revision of the Hippocratic Oath. Additionally, he was a holder of honorary degrees from Hahnemann University in 1980 and Rutgers in 1983, and an honorary doctoral degree from the University of Alcalá in Spain in 1998.

Works

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  • The Doctors' Dilemmas 1962
  • Life, Death and the Doctor 1968
  • Phenylpropanolamine 1988
  • Controversies in Therapeutics 1980
  • Regulation Drug Development 1975
  • Innovation and Acceleration in Clinical Drug Development 1987
  • Clinical Pharmacology 1966

Views

Throughout his career, Louis Lasagna emphasized that doctors maintain empathy for their patients and always consider the psychological effects of their treatments. He rewrote the Hippocratic Oath in 1964 to remind doctors they are treating human beings, not diseases and injuries. Lasagna often testified before Congress, too, favoring reforms to the drug industry that would improve drug testing before new medicines went to market. He was the first to document the fact that overly cautious regulation serves as a disincentive for innovation in the research-based drug industry and delays access to new medicines. His strong belief that reliable data and analyses should serve as the basis for political discussions regarding drug policy led to his founding in 1976 of the Center for the Study of Drug Development.

Quotations: "I will remember that there is an art to medicine as well as science, and that warmth, sympathy, and understanding may outweigh the surgeon’s knife or the chemist’s drug."

"I will not be ashamed to say, "I know not," nor will I fail to call in my colleagues when the skills of another are needed for a patient's recovery."

Personality

Louis Lasagna was a personable, compassionate, and modest person.

Interests

• Music, art

Connections

Louis Lasagna was married to Helen Chester Gersten and had seven children, Lisa, Kristin, Peter, David, Maria, Nina, and Christopher Lasagna.

Father:

Joseph Lasagna

Mother:

Carmen Lasagna

Carmen Lasagna's maiden name was Boccignone.

Wife:

Helen Chester Gersten

Daughter:

Lisa Lasagna

Daughter:

Kristin Lasagna

Son:

Peter Lasagna

Son:

David Lasagna

Daughter:

Maria Lasagna

Daughter:

Nina Lasagna

Son:

Christopher Lasagna