John Najarian, Pioneering Transplant Surgeon, Dies at 92

Dr. John S. Najarian, a groundbreaking transplant surgeon who made headlines for taking on difficult cases and who weathered a different type of headline when he was accused, and then exonerated, of improprieties related to a drug he had developed, died on Aug. 31 in Stillwater, Minn., east of Minneapolis. He was 92.

His son Peter confirmed his death, at a care center.

Dr. Najarian, who for many years was chief of surgery at the University of Minnesota Hospitals, was revered in the transplant field, which he entered when human organ transplantation was new. Recruited to replace Dr. Owen H. Wangensteen, a noted surgeon, as chief of surgery in 1967, Dr. Najarian soon built the program into a leader in kidney, liver, pancreas and other types of transplants.

He “did the tough cases,” Dr. Sayeed Ikramuddin, current chairman of the university’s department of surgery, said by email. Dr. Najarian performed transplants on kidney patients with diabetes, for instance, or patients so fragile that other doctors would not operate.