Dr. Henry Heimlich dead at 96 - The surgeon who created life-saving Heimlich maneuver for choking victims died Saturday in Cincinnati after choking on an Oktoberfest bratwurst while wearing just lederhosen

Nearly four decades after Dr. Henry Heimlich invented his famous Heimlich maneuver to save the lives of choking victims, he is still defending its use. Heimlich, 92, says that he is horrified that the Red Cross has discontinued teaching his method.

Henry Heimlich, namesake of the maneuver that has saved the lives of an estimated 100,000 potential choking victims, died early Saturday morning. The famed Hyde Park physician, who became a focus of controversy in his later years, was 96.

Heimlich died at Christ Hospital in Cincinnati, where he had been a patient after suffering a heart attack earlier this week, his son Phil said.

"My father was a great man who saved many lives," Phil Heimlich said. "He will be missed not only by his family but by all of humanity."

Heimlich was director of surgery at Jewish Hospital in Cincinnati in 1974 when he devised the treatment for choking victims that made his name a household word.

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