Dr. Jordan M. Phillips, 85; promoted use of laparoscopy
LOS ANGELES - Dr. Jordan M. Phillips, a doctor of obstetrics and gynecology who championed the use of laparoscopy for gynecological diagnosis and surgery when it was still a new procedure in the United States, has died. He was 85.
Dr. Phillips, who founded Medical Books for China International to provide textbooks to medical schools and libraries there, died July 29 at his home in Downey. The cause was cancer, according to Tim Page, his former son-in-law.
A native of Boston, Dr. Phillips became interested in laparoscopy in the 1960s when the surgical procedure was being developed by several doctors in Europe. Minimally invasive, it allows a tiny camera to see inside the abdomen through a small incision.
Inspired by the possible applications for gynecology, Dr. Phillips founded the American Association of Gynecologic Laparoscoptics in 1971, to teach the fundamentals of the procedure to practicing doctors. He invited three other gynecologists to join him as founding members. There are now about 4,000 members.
The group's inaugural meeting was held in Las Vegas in 1972. Doctors from nearly 50 countries attended. The featured speakers were leading laparoscopic surgeons Patrick Steptoe of England and Hans Frangenheim of Germany. Frangenheim's demonstration of how to inspect ovaries by laparoscopy ended with a standing ovation. Most doctors in the room had never seen the procedure.
The surgery is used to remove ovarian cysts and ectopic pregnancies and to tie fallopian tubes (a form of sterilization), among other gynecological procedures.
Dr. Phillips served as chairman of the association's board of directors for 30 years and traveled to more than 100 countries, teaching medical students and doctors laparoscopy, and performing surgeries. On a trip to China with his wife, Mary, in 1979, he learned that most medical books there had been destroyed during the Cultural Revolution of the 1960s.
He was nominated by the Chinese government for a Nobel Peace Prize in the 1980s.
Dr. Phillips was born in Boston. He graduated from Brandeis University and relocated to Los Angeles, where he earned a doctor of osteopathy degree from the College of Osteopathic Physicians and Surgeons in 1946.
Dr. Phillips was married twice. He leaves his second wife, Mary Zoe Phillips; a stepdaughter, Vanessa Weekes Page; and three step-grandchildren.
