Paediatrician David Lewis has died of pancreatic cancer at the age of 73. As a consultant paediatrician at Bronglais hospital, Aberystwyth, he was one of very few doctors in Wales to take ME seriously in the 1980s and 1990s. His care and concern for children who were often misunderstood and sometimes mistreated, led him to respond to calls for help from many parts of Wales and England. He was willing to travel far and wide to diagnose very sick children, support their families, and speak out against abuse (as in the case of Ean Proctor in the Isle of Man).
His clinic in Aberystwyth accepted adult patients for a time, even though this brought him into conflict with the hospital management. He had an acute intelligence and refreshingly open minded attitude to medicine. He practised homeopathy and recommended treatments that were often considered ‘alternative’. He was sometimes ridiculed by fellow doctors but he did not allow that to stop him looking for ways to safely relieve the suffering of his patients.
Dr Lewis was greatly missed when he retired and he will be remembered as a Pioneer for the physical illness Myalgic Encephalomyelitis. Many patients and families will always be grateful that he believed and supported them when no-one else in the medical community would.
