Karl Hermann Spitzy

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Karl Hermann Spitzy (born November 10, 1915 in Vienna ; † May 26, 2013 in Baden near Vienna ) was an Austrian physician . He achieved a high level of international recognition through his penicillin research (oral penicillin, penicillin high-dose therapy).

Career

youth

Karl Hermann Spitzy was the son of the orthopedic surgeon Hans Spitzy and the younger brother of Reinhard Spitzy . Spitzy graduated from the Schottengymnasium in 1933 and began studying medicine and philosophy the same year; At the same time, he completed his training as a technical foreman, which he completed in 1935 with the technical foreman examination at the Arsenal in Vienna. He finished his medical studies in 1939 as an intern at the 1st Medical University Clinic in Vienna and worked there for a short time as a visiting doctor in the same year.

time of the nationalsocialism

Various information is available about his activities after the so-called annexation of Austria to the National Socialist German Reich . What is certain is that Spitzy was a member of the Waffen SS during the entire Second World War . After Ernst Klee , Spitzy became adjutant to Interior Minister Hubert Klausner in 1938 in the government of Reich Governor Arthur Seyß-Inquart ; He is also said to have had contacts with the SS Ahnenerbe . In the SS , Spitzy took the rank of Hauptsturmführer or Hauptsturmführer of the reserve in 1943 . According to other sources, soon after his doctorate he served on the Russian front as a battalion doctor , regimental doctor and last year as an internist in the corps hospital.

Medical, academic and social careers

In 1945 Spitzy became chief physician for internal medicine at the Peine / Hanover hospital, and in 1946 he moved to the 1st Medical University Clinic in Vienna.

In 1954, Spitzy was entrusted with a comparative clinical study of acid-stable penicillins. The team of E. Brunner, St. Kropaczy, E. Brandl and H. Margreiter, who worked at Biochemie GmbH in Kundl ( Tyrol ), discovered these acid-stable penicillins and their possible oral therapeutic use by chance ; Among these compounds was the supposedly new penicillin V ( phenoxymethylpenicillin ). The study was completed quickly, the study results were among others from the USA as early as 1955 on the III. International Symposium on Antibiotics presented in Washington. The gastric acid-resistant, therefore orally administrable penicillin V proved to be the most effective among the compounds tested; it was added to the already known but only injectable penicillins , and was therefore easier to use therapeutically in practice than these, and was quickly used worldwide as an antibiotic .

In 1955, Spitzy founded the research center for antibiotics at the 1st Medical University Clinic in Vienna. He developed high-dose penicillin therapy by 1962, which earned him the nickname "Millionenspitzy".

In 1962 Spitzy became a lecturer and in 1970 an associate professor at the University of Vienna . From 1973 to 1987 when the chair for chemotherapy was established, Spitzy taught as a full professor at the University of Vienna. In 1979 the chair was converted into the University Clinic for Chemotherapy and Spitzy was appointed to its board. His close co-workers were u. a. K. Moser, G. Hitzenberger, H. Pichler, H. Rainer, St. Breyer, Ch. Dittrich, A. Georgopoulos, W. Graninger . 1987 Spitzy retired.

In 1966 he was an asset manager, from 1982 to 1991 president of the Society of Doctors in Vienna , was a member of the board of the Vienna Medical Academy, of which he became honorary president in 1998; he was on the board of the international society for chemotherapy, 1974 to 1976 president of the Paul Ehrlich society for chemotherapy . From 1971 he was editor of the journal Arzneimittelpraxis for many years and from 1984 to 2010 he published the journal Antibiotikamonitor . He worked as a scientific advisor for around 200 medical films, moderated the Austrian television series 'Die Wiener Medizin Schule heute' in the 1970s, was considered a brilliant organizer of congresses (including twice the International Congress for Chemotherapy in 1963 and 1987) and wrote on the history of medicine . Spitzy is the author of over 400 scientific papers.

Philosophy and ethics

Karl H. Spitzy led his 1933 Erich Heintel and Ferdinand Wagner in Vienna begun studying philosophy in 1945 continues, put 1955 Absolutorium in philosophy from the University of Vienna. In 1991 he resumed his philosophy studies at the Christian-Catholic Gustav Siewerth Academy in Bierbronnen / Germany, where he obtained his master's degree in philosophy from A. von Stockhausen in 1992 . In 1994 Spitzy received his doctorate in philosophy at the University of Vienna with a thesis on dialogue (demon and hope). Influenced by Immanuel Kant in his youth, Spitzy later turned to the philosophers Martin Buber , Ferdinand Ebner and Hans Jonas , who were to determine his philosophizing significantly. This also explains his close relationship with his Viennese doctoral supervisor Peter Kampits .

Spitzy developed an I-you-related concept of medical action, which decisively determines the practical doctor-patient relationship. In this relationship, medical responsibility plays a major role, especially as a "responsibility for what". This means that before legal norms or prevailing mores, before one's own conscience alone, responsibility can in no way be adequately assumed, but always before a metaphysical authority:

"The I and you in dialogical thinking are not only there as a dyad, but are always a triad, and if God only, as Buber says, 'blows into the in-between'."

Spitzy treated "sick people and not sicknesses". He followed the motto "Act so that it could also be a prayer.":

"[...] the doctor's action [is] only possible in the circular process of gaining trust and taking responsibility [...], in so far as it is circular, as trust as a gift from the patient has to be won over and over again and responsibility accordingly is a new one again. "

In his philosophical work, Spitzy speaks of medical dialogue and - more generally - of a medicine-specific philosophy that he calls clinical philosophy. He works on these in detail under the aspects of medical dialogue , medical ethics , medical science and medical testamentics . An impression of Spitzy's dialogue and clinical philosophy is provided by a 2004 between E.-M. Schulak and Karl H. Spitzy conducted conversation.

At the end of the 1990s, Karl H. Spitzy set up the Badener Kreis, a non-public discussion forum in which he explored doctor-patient relationships with doctors, psychologists, physicists and philosophers.

Awards

Spitzy has won numerous awards and has received many awards, including:

  • 1960: Theodor Körner Prize
  • 1992: Wilhelm Exner Medal
  • 1993: Billroth Medal
  • 1994: Culture Prize of the City of Baden near Vienna
  • 1995: Gold medal from the Medical Association
  • 1996: Golden Medal of the City of Vienna

In 1988 the Karl Hermann Spitzy Prize was awarded for the first time.

Publications (selection)

Penicillin Research

  • Peroral penicillin therapy. In: Antibiotica et Chemotherapia: progress, advances, progrès. Vol. 2. Karger, Basel 1955, pp. 134-206 (development of the first oral penicillin).
  • Penicillin in high doses. In: Wiener Klinische Wochenschrift. Vol. 74 (1962), pp. 840-844 (development of high dosage).

Research and Medical Ethics

  • Representative individual case and double-blind experiment. In: Journal for Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy. Vol. 22 (1974), H. 3, p. 218 (Critique of Clinical Statistics).
  • Ethics and drug research. In: Helmut-Paul Kuemmerle et al. (Ed.): Clinical pharmacology. Ecomed, Munich / Landsberg 1993, vol. 2, chap. 1.4.1.
  • Medical ethics in the field of tension between economic requirements. In: Engelbert Theurl (Hrsg.): Deadly limits: Rationing in health care. Document volume for the 13th university course in health economics of the Austrian Society for Health Economics. Alfred & Sons, Merano 1994.
  • Ethical Problems in Chemotherapy. In: Antibiotics Monitor. Vol. 14 (1998), no. 6.
  • Medical dialogue and healing dialogue. Criticism of the pure diagnostic medicine. In: Psychopraxis. Vol. 3 (2000), H. 7, p. 17.
  • Responsibility in medicine from a dialogical point of view. In: Wiener Medical Wochenschrift. Vol. 152 (2002), p. 13.

Medical history

  • With Inge Lau: Van Swieten's legacy: The Vienna Medical School in self-portrayals. Maudrich, Vienna 1982.
  • With Gerhart Hitzenberger, Ingeborg Lau: The attempt on people in the Vienna Medical School in self-portrayals. Maudrich, Vienna 1984.
  • As publisher: Society of Doctors in Vienna 1837–1987. With contributions by Isidor Fischer , Otto Novotny, Armin Prinz, Karl Sablik and Helmut Wyklicky. Brandstätter, Vienna 1987.

Doctor-patient relationship and medical philosophy

  • Can metamedicine build a bridge between paramedicine and so-called conventional medicine? In: Wiener Medical Wochenschrift . Vol. 140 (1990), no. 4, p. 81 (dialogue as a proposed solution).
  • Demon and hope. Dialogics in medicine. Hasel, Vienna 1993.
  • Clinical philosophy I. Medical dialogue. Maudrich, Vienna 1994.
  • Clinical Philosophy II. Medical Ethics. Maudrich, Vienna 1995.
  • Clinical Philosophy III. Medical science. Maudrich, Vienna 1998.
  • Clinical philosophy IV. Medical testicle. Maudrich, Vienna 2000.
  • With Eugen-Maria Schulak : When doctors look for wisdom. A dialogue between medicine and philosophy. Kremayr & Scheriau, Wien 2004 ( Book Description ).

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ “Antibiotika-Pope” Spitzy died at the age of 97 , website of the Austria Press Agency , June 4, 2013, accessed on June 6, 2013.
  2. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l K.H. Spitzy - technician, physician and philosopher - is 85. In: Antibiotikamonitor. 16 (2000) 5 + 6, accessed July 31, 2012.
  3. ↑ a b c career of KH Spitzky , Academy of Life, Siemens, 2003, accessed on July 31, 2012.
  4. ↑ a b Numery członków od 309,000 od 309,999 (list of SS members, Polish)
  5. ↑ a b Ernst Klee: The dictionary of persons on the Third Reich. Who was what before and after 1945 . Fischer Taschenbuch Verlag, second updated edition. Frankfurt am Main 2005, ISBN 3-596-16048-0 , p. 592.
  6. ^ Ernst Klee: The dictionary of persons on the Third Reich. Who was what before and after 1945 . Fischer Taschenbuch Verlag, second updated edition. Frankfurt am Main 2005, ISBN 3-596-16048-0 , p. 592, citing BA R 135/46
  7. ↑ KH Spitzy: The history of the first acid-stable oral penicillin (Penicillin V) in: Antibiotikamonitor 16 (2000) 3, accessed on July 31, 2012.
  8. ↑ a b From acid-resistant penicillin to high dosage , Univ.-Prof. GDR. Karl Hermann Spitzy over 40 years of antibiotic therapy ( Memento from October 29, 2013 in the Internet Archive ), Medical Tribune 40 (2008) 50-52, 30-31, accessed on July 31, 2012.
  9. ↑ red / APA : "Penicillin is as toxic as icing sugar". Antibiotic pioneer Karl Hermann Spitzy celebrates his 90th birthday. In: The Standard . November 16, 2005, accessed July 31, 2012.
  10. ^ Karl Hermann Spitzy. In: Karl Heinz Tragl: Chronicle of the Vienna hospitals. Böhlau, Vienna 2007, p. 117 f. ( online , accessed July 31, 2012).
  11. ↑ Laudation and curriculum vitae (with a collection of 'essential statements' by KH Spitzky (sic !, incorrect name spelling)) (PDF; 59 kB), Academy of Life, Siemens, October 29, 2003, accessed on July 31, 2012.
  12. ↑ a b "It is important to save people." A conversation with the doctor and philosopher Karl Hermann Spitzy Extract from the official protocol of the Academy of Life, published in the Wiener Zeitung on April 30, 2004, edited by Eugen-Maria Schulak (Homepage of the Philosophical Practice by E.-M. Schulak ) , accessed July 31, 2012.
  13. ↑ Book Description for When Doctors Search for Wisdom. A dialogue between medicine and philosophy. by Karl H. Spitzy and E.-M. Schulak , Kremayr & Scheriau, Vienna, accessed on July 31, 2012.
  14. ^ Karl Hermann Spitzy - 90 years. (PDF; 647 kB) In: Antibiotikamonitor. Vol. 21 (2005), Issue 4/5, accessed on July 31, 2012.
  15. ^ Entry about Karl Hermann Spitzy in the database of the Wilhelm Exner Medal Foundation .
personal data
SURNAME Spitzy, Karl Hermann
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian medic
DATE OF BIRTH November 10, 1915
PLACE OF BIRTH Vienna
DATE OF DEATH May 26, 2013
Place of death Baden near Vienna