[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 100 (Wednesday, July 27, 1994)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: July 27, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
         DAVID SHERIDAN, ``FATHER OF CATHETERS,'' TO BE HONORED

                                 ______


                        HON. GERALD B.H. SOLOMON

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, July 27, 1994

  Mr. SOLOMON. Mr. Speaker, the name of David Sheridan should be more 
familiar to all Americans, because so many Americans have benefited 
from his greatest achievement.
  To those familiar with that achievement, Mr. Sheridan is known as the 
father of the modern catheter. That single device has had a significant 
impact on medical and surgical practices, and that is one of the 
reasons a ``David Sheridan Day'' will be held on Saturday, September 
17.
  Catheters, as we all know, deliver medications, drain bodily fluids, 
and serve other vital medical purposes. Although he worked in 
collaboration with physicians from the Albany Medical Center, Mr. 
Sheridan is more responsible than any other man for the development of 
many useful varieties of catheters. In fact, the hospital's diagnostic 
facility was dedicated in 1987 as the David S. Sheridan Magnetic 
Resonance Imaging Center in his honor. And when Albany Medical College 
held its 157th commencement that year, Mr. Sheridan was awarded a 
doctor of science honoris causa degree.
  In 1950, Mr. Sheridan and his family moved into an old farmhouse in 
the town of Argyle. About 100 feet from the house was a two-story red 
barn. It was there that Mr. Sheridan, a man whose formal education 
ended when he had to quit school at the age of 13, developed an idea 
with so many applications that today, more than 150-million catheters 
and similar devices are being used in operating rooms throughout the 
world.

  Mr. Speaker, the perseverance and insight of Mr. Sheridan has 
resulted in simplified medical-surgical procedures and greatly reduced 
both patient suffering and expense while saving valuable time. For 
these reasons Mr. Sheridan deserves to be ranked alongside the 
Pasteurs, the Flemings, the Salks, and other solitary men of vision 
whose contributions to the medical world can never be measured.
  Add to this the fact that he has made the small town of Argyle the 
catheter capital of the world, generating employment for thousands of 
local people, and you can see, Mr. Speaker, why we are so proud of Mr. 
Sheridan.
  He will never be as famous as he deserves to be, but let this House 
at least go on record expressing its own tribute to Mr. David Sheridan, 
a great American whose achievements have improved the quality of life 
for the whole world.

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