The doctor's dignity

Died: Dr Burjor Nusserwanji Colabawalla, 80, founder member and past president of the Urological Society of India (USI), and chairman of The Society for the Right to Die with Dignity, on September 23, 2002 following a long illness. At a time when general surgeons were loath to yield the field to a specialist, Colabawalla stood by his resolve to restrict his practice to urology, the branch of medicine in which he had acquired considerable skill and expertise during his years of training in England, recalled eminent neurologist Dr Noshir Wadia. "He thus became the first dedicated specialist in this field in Bombay and perhaps the second or third to do so in India," admired Wadia, adding, "It was by no means easy in the early years for (Colabawalla) and his wife Mehroo, with two growing children, but he stood firm in his dedication and ethics and refused to promote his practice by any other means than his competence and reputation."