Leonel Ferreira, MD, was a receptive person who was happy to discuss cases, a colleague said. All photos courtesy of CBR and Berit Press.
A prominent radiologist was one of eight doctors who died August 9 in a plane crash in Brazil.
“It is with great sadness that we announce the death of José Roberto Leonel Ferreira, MD, a full member of the CBR,” the Brazilian College of Radiology and Diagnostic Imaging (CBR) said in a short tribute. “He was among the 62 occupants of the Voepass plane that crashed on Friday afternoon in Vinhedo, in the state of São Paulo.”
Ferreira did his radiology residency at the Hospital do Servidor Público in São Paulo. He obtained a master's degree in biomedical engineering from the Federal Technological University of Paraná, and was an assistant professor of the Medicine Course and Medical Residency at Unioeste, the CBR noted.
He opened the Dr. Leonel Ferreira Imaging Center in 1994 in Cascavel, about 930 km (578 miles) west of São Paulo. The facility covers more than 30 municipalities and treats an average of 30,000 patients per year, according to an article posted in May 2022 by Berit Press. Ferreira installed the region’s first digital x-ray and introduced fully digital radiology reports for easy access on a computer or smartphone, it said.
“I went over cases with him on several occasions,” Willian Rodrigo Feistler, MD, a general practitioner who grew up in Cascavel, told abc7ny.com in a story posted on 12 August. “He was a receptive person who helped other doctors in the discussion of cases to reach diagnoses.”
Ferreira, who had recently retired, was one of Feistler's teachers during his undergraduate studies, the article stated.
Staff at the Dr. Leonel Ferreira Imaging Center treat around 30,000 patients a year.
Brazil's Federal Council of Medicine said that the loss of the eight doctors left Brazil's medical world in mourning, and expressed its solidarity for the victims' friends and relatives. The doctors were venturing forth from Cascavel in search of knowledge to improve the lives of their patients, its statement said.
“They were people used to saving lives, and now they lost theirs in such tragic circumstances,” said Paraná Governor Ratinho Júnior. “It is a sad day.”
For now, there are more questions about the crash than answers, the abc7ny.com article continued. Metsul, one of Brazil's most respected meteorological companies, said on Friday that there were reports of severe icing in São Paulo state around the time of the crash. Local media cited experts who said the freak weather was a potential cause, but others cautioned against jumping to a conclusion.
Both the plane's black boxes -- one with flight data and the other with cockpit audio -- were recovered, according to the website report. The air force's center for the investigation and prevention of air accidents has begun to analyze them at its laboratory in the nation's capital, Brasília. Airports Minister Silvio Costa Filho said the center was also opening a criminal probe. The airline, Voepass, and the French-Italian ATR manufacturer are assisting in investigations, it noted.
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