It was someone from Staten Island. Could it be Edward Heinrich Robitzek M.D. (1912-1984) Director of Sea View Hospital on Staten Island, once the world's largest Tuberculosis treatment facility? In 1952 he worked with Dr. Irving J. Selikoff and others to develop the revolutionary pill known as Isoniazid, to treat TB. This medication caused the US tuberculosis rate to drop by 35%, saved millions of lives worldwide and countless health care dollars. It is still widely used today. The effectiveness of the treatment led to the closing of the TB treatment facilities at Sea View. In 1993 The World Health Organization declared the reemergence of TB a global emergency. Despite the development of Isoniazid and other drugs about one third of the world's population is infected with Mycobacterium tuberculosis and TB still causes two million deaths each year. It is the single biggest killer of young women. Most of these deaths occur in poor countries where effective treatment is not available.
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