Cataract Pioneer Dies

Cataract Pioneer Dies

VANCOUVER — Herb Fitterman, the ophthalmologist who in 1968 performed what is believed to be Canada’s first lens implant surgery to treat cataracts, has died. The now-standard procedure was controversial at the time. Fitterman died April 22 in Vancouver as a result of complication from a fall suffered while on vacation. He continued to see patients until a week before his death. The Saskatoon-born Fitterman studied medicine at the University of Manitoba and interned in Vancouver.