Dr. George Perera, 90, Hypertension Expert -- Rest in Peace

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Subject: Dr. George Perera, 90, Hypertension Expert

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He was 90

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Date Posted: October 19, 2002 4:00:38 EDT

Dr. George Perera, a former professor of medicine at Columbia University known for his work on high blood pressure and for his antiwar efforts, died on Sept. 14 at a retirement community in Kennett Square, Pa.

A former associate dean of the medical school, Dr. Perera explored the causes of hypertension and examined the long-term results of treating it. He was among the first to emphasize the role of heredity, not environment, in the disease.

Dr. Perera, who lived in the Riverdale area of the Bronx for much of his career, was also known for his antiwar work with the American Friends Service Committee. He traveled on behalf of the group to Vietnam, Cambodia, the Soviet Union, Cuba and the Middle East.

In 1972, after a weeklong trip to Hanoi, he wrote an article for The New York Times in which he warned of the serious health problems caused by the American military's use of the defoliant Agent Orange, which left behind the contaminant dioxin. "I report these events because I am convinced the public is due them and so that the subject can be pursued further," he wrote.

But evidence to support a link between illnesses among the Vietnamese and Agent Orange is weak, scientists have said in recent years.

Dr. Perera received his bachelor's degree from Princeton and his medical degree from Columbia. His wife of 65 years, Anna Rhoads Perera, died in 1999. He is survived by a son, Dr. David R., of Lopez Island, Wash.; a daughter, Marcia P. Van Dyck of Princeton, N.J.; eight grandchildren and six great grandchildren.

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