Patrick Kennedy Would Have Survived

Fifty years ago, Patrick Kennedy was born, lived 39 hours, and died.

... Five and a half weeks premature, delivered by Caesarean section on Aug. 7, 1963, at Otis Air Force Base on Cape Cod, Patrick weighed a relatively robust 4 pounds 10 1/2 ounces.

.. Patrick died just 39 hours after his birth, a victim of what was then the most common cause of death among premature infants in the United States, killing an estimated 25,000 babies each year: hyaline membrane disease, now known as respiratory distress syndrome.

Complain all you want about the US healthcare system and infant mortality, but neonatology has advanced tremendously in the last fifty years. In today's NICU, almost certainly, Patrick Kennedy would have survived.