Dr.
John H. Altshuler (November 11, 1930 - January 27, 2004),
received his B.S.
degree in 1955 and
both a M.D. and C.M.
in 1959, all from
McGill University. In addition, he was Specialty
Board Certified in Anatomic Pathology, Clinical Pathology
and Immunohematology. Since 1971, he had been in the private
practice of Hematology and Pathology in Denver, Colorado,
and served as a Consultant in Hematology to seven Colorado
hospitals. Dr. Altshuler was an
Assistant Clinical Professor of Medecine (Hematology)
and Pathology, University of Colorado Health
Sciences Center, Denver, CO, starting in 1966. John served
in the United States Army,
actively from 1951-1953 and as a reserve officer from
1953-1959.
He
first became interested in cattle mutilations when he
was directly involved with the Snippy
the Horse Case (Lady), a three year old
Appaloosa horse near Alamosa, Colorado on September 7,
1967. He was enticed by Linda
Moulton Howe to provide consulting and
laboratory services in her important work. Dr. Altshuler
had shared the podium with Linda at numerous
UFO conferences and symposia, starting in 1988.
Dr.
Altshuler joined MUFON
on June 9, 1989 as a Consultant
in Hematology,
Clinical and Anatomic Pathology.
John,
who used private aviation to bring state-of-the-art medicine
to rural Colorado and New Mexico and co-wrote the first
clinical report to connect smoking to health problems,
died January 27 of a stroke resulting from a spinal cord
injury after a bicycle accident.
As
a child, John had always wanted to fly, but he was told
that his vision was inadequate. Then, in 1973, while driving
back from a cross-country trip where he had been lecturing
at a rural hospital, he looked up to see a small airplane
landing at Centennial Airport near Denver, CO. He drove
to the FBO and inquired about flight lessons and vision
requirements. Within three months, John had passed his
class II medical, completed his private pilot certificate
and purchased his first airplane - a Piper Cherokee 6.
For the next 31 years, Dr. Altshuler commuted to various
small communities in southern Colorado and New Mexico
providing "big-city" medicine to towns as small
as 6,000.
"Dr.
John loved flying and, unlike too many doctors, was deeply
dedicated to keeping current and retraining,"
said Dr. Glenn Endsley, a friend of Dr. Altshuler's and
his regular CFI. Owning a series of heavy singles, Dr.
Altshuler amassed over 5,000 hours and was an active member
of the Flying Physicians Association.
In addition to flying and his clinical medicine practice,
Dr. Altshuler also was the co-researcher of the 1957 "Joint
Report of Study Group on Smoking and Health",
the first official document identifying smoking as a health
hazard and the precursor to the 1964 Surgeon General's
report on smoking. Dr. Altshuler was an early anti-smoking
activist.
Dr.
Altshuler was also a prolific inventor with eight
patents for medical devices that were commercialized by
a series of different companies from Johnson & Johnson
to Applied Medical Devices,
and Hemotech. One of his inventions,
the Hemotensiometer changed the way cardiac surgery was
done in the 1970s and received
an Industrial Research IR-100 award
as "one of the 100 most significant contributions
in applied research during 1973." John
had presented papers at professional
society symposia and published
over eighteen papers in medical
magazines.
Dr.
Altshuler's last plane, a Piper Turbo Arrow had recently
completed its annual and he was in the process of redesigning
the avionics panel to equip the plane with all of the
latest capabilities.
Dr.
Altshuler was 73. He is survived by his wife, two sons,
a daughter, seven grandchildren and his brother, Thomas.
Sources:
MUFON
1991 International UFO Symposium Proceedings
http://www.eaa.org/apps/obituaries/MemorialWall2.aspx?ID=1797
