[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 147 (2001), Part 16]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 22941-22942]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



 HONORING DR. THADDEUS SZEWCZYK FOR HIS 50 YEARS OF DEDICATED WORK TO 
                  THE CAUSE OF RETROLENTAL FIBROPLASIA

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. JERRY F. COSTELLO

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                       Friday, November 16, 2001

  Mr. COSTELLO. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to ask my colleagues to join 
me in honoring Dr. Thaddeus Szewczyk of Belleville, Illinois who 50 
years ago discovered the cause of retrolental fribroplasia.
  During the 1930's, retrolental fibroplasia, a disease causing 
permanent, total blindness, affected premature babies placed in 
incubators in hospital nurseries. This disease became rampant in 
industrialized countries during the 1940's and 1950's, causing 
blindness in thousands of children. Twenty percent of all newly born 
premature babies were affected and doctors feared that within a few 
years, most premature babies born in the United States would be blind. 
Then, in December, 1951, Dr. Szewczyk, working at Christian Welfare 
Hospital in East St. Louis, Illinois, suggested that misuse of oxygen 
was the cause of retrolental fibroplasia and careful control of oxygen 
might control this disease. His findings were published in prestigious 
medical journals, including The American Journal of Ophthalmology. 
Because of the massive increase in incubator usage, this discovery 
prevented a tidal wave of blindness in baby-boomer babies.
  Dr. Szewczyk has had a distinguished career and as a result, has 
received several awards and honors. In 1976, he received the 
International Leslie-Dana Gold Medal from the St. Louis Society for the 
Blind. In addition, the National Polish-American organization 
recognized him for this brilliant, medical discovery. Furthermore, the 
Illinois House of Representatives recently passed a resolution honoring 
Dr. Szewczyk for 50 years of dedication and hard work on retrolental 
fibroplasia.
  Dr. Szewczyk was the first of four children born to Stanley and 
Genevieve Szewczyk. He

[[Page 22942]]

served as a doctor in the army during World War II, spending many 
months on the island of Attu and Germany. Dr. Szewczyk has worked as an 
eye specialist, in partnership with his brother Edward, in Southern 
Illinois for over 30 years. Today, he and his wife of 57 years, 
Loretta, reside in Belleville, Illinois.
  Mr. Speaker, I know my colleagues join me in honoring this 
extraordinary individual, for his commitment to retrolental fibroplasia 
and his amazing discovery that saved many children from a life of 
permanent, total blindness.

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