Philip Sunshine, 94, dies; Doctor who opened the way to the treatment of premature children
Philip Sunshine, a Stanford University doctor who played an important role in establishing neonatology as a medical specialty, revolutionizing the care of premature and serious infants who previously had little chance of survival, died on April 5 at his house in Cupertino, California. It was 94.His death was confirmed by his daughter Diana Sunshine.Before Dr. Sunshine and a handful of other doctors were interested in taking care of the premiers in the late 1950s and 1960s, more than half of these unimaginably fragile patients died shortly after birth. Insurance companies would not pay to treat them.Dr. Sunshine, a pediatric gastroenterologist, thought that many premature children could be saved. In Stanford, he pushed for teams of multiple disciplines to treat them in special intensive car...