Morris A. Wessel, American pediatrician, Died at 98

Morris Arthur Wessel was born on November 1, 1917, and died on August 20, 2016.

He was an American pediatrician.

Morris practiced in New Haven, Connecticut from 1951 to 1993.

Wessel was a clinical professor of pediatrics at Yale Medical School.

He was known as the Yale Medical School alumni magazine put it, as “a pediatrician who treated not just the children but the whole family.”

During 1954, Morris A. Wessel offered a widely accepted definition of “colic” as a healthy baby with periods of intense, unexplained fussing/crying lasting more than 3 hours a day, more than 3 days a week for more than 3 weeks.

Along with Anthony Dominski, Ph.D, he investigated lead levels in children in the 1970s and recommended a level than thought to be unrealistically low.

Eventually the American Academy of Pediatrics recommended an even lower level.

During 1997, Wessel was awarded the American Academy of Pediatrics’ C. Anderson Aldrich Award, which recognizes achievement by a physician in the field of child development.

The Morris Wessel Fund was created, a donor advised fund of the New Haven Community Foundation, makes an award to an “unsung hero” in New Haven each year.

Morris A. Wessel passed away at 98 years old.