Victor I. Markson M.D.
Dr. Victor I. Markson, a retired physician, who was an early
pioneer in demonstrating that anticoagulant therapy in the treatment of
thromboembolic disease could be as safe and effective for ambulatory and office
patients as it was for hospitalized subjects, died peacefully on August 15, 2012 at
his home in New York City. He was 100.
Dr. Markson was on staff at the Albert Einstein Medical
Center in Philadelphia in 1956-57 where he worked under the direction of Dr.
Samuel Baer on the preliminary studies of the anticoagulant drug, Warfarin
(Coumadin) Sodium, and collaborated on several published papers. After returning to private practice in Beaver
Falls, Dr. Markson recorded the results of his own experiences with 144
patients over a period of five years.
His 1964 seminal paper, Long-Term Anticoagulant Therapy as an Office
Procedure, was published in the journal, Angiology. Dr. Markson’s work showed that safe,
therapeutic prothrombin levels could be reached and satisfactorily maintained
in a majority of the cases and that the clinical improvement over previously
accepted standards had been striking.
Dr. Markson was a dedicated and skilled practitioner who
devoted his working life to the welfare of his patients and their
families. Dr. Markson was instrumental
in bringing the first kidney dialysis machine and Teletrace Pacemaker
monitoring to the community. Dr. Markson
is a past president of the staff of Providence Hospital in Beaver Falls, the
Beaver County Medical Society, the Beaver County Heart Association, and the
Beaver County Cancer Society. At the
United Hospital, Incorporated, he served in several capacities, including Chief
of Internal Medicine, Chief of Coronary Care, and Chief of the Medical
Staff. In 1981, he was named Chairman of
the ICU Committee at the Medical Center of Beaver County where he was also a
member of the Executive Board.
Dr. Markson’s interest in research never waned and in 1971
with several colleagues, he conceived the Blood-Lipid Testing Program that
screened school children and newborns in Western Pennsylvania for
abnormalities. This program eventually
received Federal funding as the Regional Medical Project and Dr. Markson served
as the Medical Advisory Chairman.
Victor Isaac Markson was born in Chicago on July 12, 1912 to
Harry and Alice Markson. He was raised
and lived most of his adult life in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania. He graduated from Beaver Falls High School in
1929 and attended the University of Pittsburgh.
However, because of the Great Depression he had to drop out of college
before receiving his degree but found work as a truck driver. Without applying, but on the recommendation
of an Iowa relative, he was accepted at the University of Iowa Medical School.
Dr. Markson graduated from the University of Iowa Medical
School in 1937. He served an internship and was Chief Resident for one year at Montefiore Hospital in Pittsburgh, PA before returning to Beaver Falls where he practiced medicine until his
retirement in 1983. He completed
post-graduate studies in Internal Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania
Graduate School of Medicine in 1956 and completed an additional one year
residency at the Albert Einstein Medical Center of Philadelphia. It was at this time that Dr. Markson began
his research on anticoagulant therapy.
Dr. Markson enlisted in the Army Air Corp in January 1943
and served as the Surgeon of the 1897th Aviation Engineer
Battalion. He saw action in New Guinea,
the Philippines, and Okinawa. Dr.
Markson was awarded the Bronze Star Medal for meritorious achievement in
connection with military operations against the enemy at Puerto Princesa,
Palawan, Philippine Islands in 1945. He
was discharged from active service in April 1946 with the rank of Major.
Dr. Markson was active in civic and community service and
was a member of the Agudath Achim Synagogue in Beaver Falls and a member of the
Tower Society of Geneva College. He was
an ardent supporter of B’nai B’rith, the Jewish National Fund and the State of
Israel Bonds organization. While living
in New York City, Dr. Markson was a congregant at the Society for the
Advancement of Judaism.
Dr. Markson married Dorothy Isaacson in 1938. She died in 1996. They had two sons, David and Jonathan. Dr. Markson married Madeline Marcus Milberg
of Great Neck, NY in 1997. She died in
2009. Dr. Markson was preceded in death
by his grandson, Zachary. He is survived
by his two sons and their wives, Marie and Gaye, and a grandson, Daniel.
