Allan L. Friedlich, at 89; MGH cardiologist set a standard

As the top student in his Harvard Medical School class, Dr. Allan L. Friedlich was awarded the Henry Asbury Christian Prize. It came with a personal note from Christian, who had been the first physician-in-chief at Peter Bent Brigham Hospital.

``By this action of the Harvard Medical School you have become a marked man," Christian wrote on Feb. 18, 1943, ``one in whom lies promise for the future . . . your life's work will show whether wisely they have chosen."

Dr. Friedlich, who helped found the International Cardiology Foundation, spent a half-century at Massachusetts General Hospital and, as a Harvard Medical School professor, served as mentor to decades of cardiology students.

He died of cancer on July 7 at his home in Belmont. Dr. Friedlich was 89 and had worked long past the age when most kick back and relax, retiring at 80 only because of health concerns.

Dr. Friedlich was part of a vanishing breed of diagnosticians ``whose first response was not to get a scan, but to actually examine the patient in great detail," said Dr. Andrew Bodnar, a vice president at Bristol-Myers Squibb and a longtime friend. ``He was one of these doctors who made every one of his patients feel as if they were the only patient he had."

Born in Des Moines, Dr. Friedlich was the nephew of the playwright and critic George S. Kaufman, who helped pay the college expenses of his sister's children.

Dr. Friedlich had become interested in medicine and anatomy as a child. In an oral history recorded three years ago, he recalled a trip to the slaughterhouse to fetch 25 cows' eyes to study at home. ``I put them in the sink in the back hall, in the water, so that they would not dry out," he said.

His father was less than pleased when he returned home and went to splash water on his face, only to see ``all those eyes watching him."

Inspired by his family's pediatrician, Dr. Friedlich decided to follow his path to Dartmouth College and Harvard Medical School. He graduated from Dartmouth in 1939 and from medical school in 1943. After a residency at Massachusetts General, he became a medical officer in the Army Air Force for three years, often flying the hazardous route known as Hump from India to China over the Himalayan Mountains.

Discharged as a major, Dr. Friedlich was back in 1947 at Mass. General, where he stayed until retiring in 1997. His mentor was Dr. Paul Dudley White, a pioneer who helped found the American Heart Association and whose advice to use exercise as a hedge against cardiac ailments drew national attention when he treated President Dwight D. Eisenhower's heart attack.

Dr. Friedlich helped White found the International Cardiology Foundation. At the end of his life, White gave his protégé the gold-plated stethoscope he had received from Eisenhower.

``They were really like father and son, they were so close," said one of Dr. Friedlich's sons, Andrew, of Lexington.

In 1977 the heart association presented Dr. Friedlich with the Paul Dudley White Award, given to physicians who make significant contributions to the field. Dr. Friedlich believed that one of his most important contributions was being a mentor, just as White had helped guide his early career.

``An important function of doctors is to be a role model, to attract bright young people into medicine," he said.

That included physicians from other countries, whom he invited to stay in the family's Belmont home so they would ``be able to see new procedures and techniques that were being done at the General," his son said.

``He really involved us in a lot of that so we would appreciate what he was doing," his son said. ``My brothers and I basically grew up at Mass. General. He was the kind of guy who was so devoted to his patients that if one of his people was being admitted, even though he wasn't on for that weekend, he would go in."

Dr. Friedlich's wife, Elaine, who was involved with organizations that advocated for retarded citizens, died of cancer in 1981.

Later, he met Barbara Bennion, whom he married in 1983. ``He was an optimist," she said. ``I felt like love was the center of his life."

In addition to his wife and son Andrew, Dr. Friedlich leaves two other sons, John Herd of Santa Barbara, Calif., and Robert of Watertown; three stepsons, Paul Muenzinger of Darien, Conn., Karl Muenzinger of Tarrytown, N.Y., and Eric Muenzinger of Rye, N.Y.; a brother, Bruce of New York City; three grandchildren; two step-grandchildren; and a great-grandson.

A memorial service will be held at 3 p.m. on Sept. 9 in the O'Keeffe Auditorium at Massachusetts General Hospital.