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Tom Petty, MD, dies at 76; pioneer in oxygen therapy, pulmonary rehabilitation; known as "father of home oxygen"
Tom Petty, MD, known as “the father of home oxygen” for his pioneering work in the use of home medical oxygen, died Saturday at his home in Denver. CO. He was 76.
Born in Boulder, CO, in 1932, Petty spent most of his many decades of research on lung disease in his native state.
Petty was an instructor in medicine and a researcher at the University of Colorado School of Medicine in the early 1960s. He became Chief Resident in Medicine, then a professor of medicine a the medical school.
Some of Petty’s work at the University of Colorado involved the oxygen equipment being used by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) for the space program. Petty discovered that the same type of apparatus that worked to help astronauts breathe in space could help patients with lung disease breathe better.
Petty’s groundbreaking work with oxygen therapy and exercise for patients with lung diseases led to his decades-long campaign for pulmonary rehabilitation as a way to improve the health of lung patients.
Late in life, Petty himself developed lung disease and was a user of medical oxygen. He called himself an “oxy-phile” and used the word in the title of one of his many books. Adventures of an Oxy-Phile was about his experience both as a researcher and user of home oxygen therapy.
Petty also made early discoveries involving acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), and helped to improve survival rates for ARDS patients.
He was presented with a lifetime achievement award by the American Thoracic Society.
