Ophthalmic community mourns loss of Richard P. Kratz

Richard P. Kratz, MD, an early proponent of phacoemulsification and IOL implantation and a former student of Sir Harold Ridley, died recently. He was 95.

Kratz, whose mother was a physician, was born in Los Angeles in 1920 and displayed an interest in science and medicine at a young age. He earned his bachelor’s degree from Occidental College in 1942 and obtained his medical degree from the University of Southern California in 1946.

He served as chief of the U.S. Army’s Eye, Ear, Nose and Throat Service at the Army’s General Hospital in Tokyo in the 1940s. He continued his ophthalmology training at Moorfields Eye Hospital in London and completed his residency in ophthalmology at Duke University in 1951.

Under the tutelage of Ridley, Kratz learned about IOL implantation at Moorfields. In the 1970s, he became a staunch advocate of phacoemulsification, which had been pioneered by Charles Kelman, MD. He and actor Robert Young, an IOL recipient, were instrumental in moving Congress to overturn the FDA’s decision to ban IOLs in 1980.

Kratz and Robert Sinskey, MD, taught phacoemulsification courses from 1972 to 1980.

Kratz was a medical adviser for Bausch + Lomb and a supporter of viscocanalostomy, an alternative to trabeculectomy for lowering IOP in patients with glaucoma.

Kratz and his wife, Carmen, had seven children, two of whom, Richard and Alan, became ophthalmologists. His daughter, Katherine Owens, has been involved in corneal research.

Tribute to Richard Kratz:

I first met Richard “Dick” Kratz, MD, in 1978 while completing a fellowship in anterior segment surgery with William S. Harris, MD, in Dallas. Bill Harris was early into phacoemulsification and posterior chamber IOLs and was close friends with all the early pioneers, including Dr. Kratz. Bob Sinskey and Dick Kratz were teaching phaco courses in Santa Monica with Charlie Kelman’s blessing, and I had the opportunity to attend one of their courses and get to know them personally. At the time, Tom Mazzocco and Dick Kratz were in partnership together in Santa Monica with a very large surgery-dominated private practice. Dr. Kratz later moved his practice to Orange County, eventually transferring his patients to the University of California, Irvine, at his retirement.

Richard L. Lindstrom

Dick Kratz was a master surgeon, trusted teacher, innovator and critical player in the early development of phaco, IOLs and several societies, including CLAO and ASCRS. His operating room was always filled with guest surgeons, and he helped a generation of surgeons trained in ICCE transition safely to phaco and posterior chamber IOLs. He invented the “Kratz” posterior chamber IOL and popularized a nuclear tilt technique of phacoemulsification, both of which were very popular. He was the surgeon of the rich and famous, and his patient Robert Young, who was at the time Marcus Welby, MD, on TV, helped save access to IOLs in the early years when many political foes tried to obstruct their use by testifying on their behalf in front of Congress.

Dr. Kratz never lost his intellectual curiosity and continued to consult on new cataract surgery technology and attend meetings well into his 80s. He was a kind, giving, highly respected gentleman. He served as an extraordinary role model for me and many of my generation. I feel blessed to have known and learned from him in his prime, and we remained friends as he aged, showing the way to transition from active practice to a productive later life, with grace and style.

Richard L. Lindstrom, MD, OSN Chief Medical Editor