Study Led By Doctor Murdered On Oct. 7 Published Despite Antisemitic Resistance

A peer-reviewed medical study spearheaded by an Israeli physician murdered while treating patients during the Oct. 7 Hamas attack has now been published in a leading international journal, bringing to completion research he began before his death and underscoring both its medical significance and the profound personal loss behind it, Ynet reported Friday.

Dr. Daniel Levi Hy’d, an ear, nose and throat specialist at Soroka Medical Center in Be’er Sheva, was killed while on duty at the clinic in Kibbutz Be’eri during the Hamas assault. The research project he launched, which examined whether surgery for obstructive sleep apnea is safe for infants and toddlers, appeared this week in the journal Clinical Otolaryngology, with Levi listed as a lead author.

The study focused on surgical outcomes in children under the age of two, a population long viewed as having elevated surgical risk. According to the authors, Levi and fellow researcher Dr. Daniel Yafit contributed equally to the work.

Levi, his wife Lihi, and their two children relocated to Kibbutz Be’eri in 2022 after he began his residency at Soroka, part of Clalit Health Services. On the morning of Oct. 7, as terrorists overran the kibbutz, Levi was summoned from his home to the local dental clinic, which had been converted into an improvised treatment center for the wounded. He treated patients there for several hours before being killed by a grenade explosion shortly before 2 p.m.

By the time of his murder, Levi had already completed most of the study’s data collection. His colleagues at Soroka later finalized the analysis and manuscript, determined to see the research published under his name and formally dedicated to his memory.

“For us, this was about more than commemoration,” Dr. Oren Ziv, a senior physician in Soroka’s ENT department and a co-author of the study told Ynet. “It was about ensuring Daniel’s work reached the medical community.”

The retrospective analysis reviewed 419 pediatric patients who underwent surgery for obstructive sleep apnea. The children were divided into three age groups: infants under one year old, toddlers aged one to two, and children over two. Procedures evaluated included adenoidectomy, tonsillectomy, and combined surgeries.

Researchers found that infants and toddlers generally had longer hospital stays and higher rates of precautionary pediatric intensive care unit admissions, especially among infants. However, once the type of surgery was taken into account, there were no meaningful differences in serious complications such as bleeding, dehydration, fever, or emergency room visits.

The authors concluded that obstructive sleep apnea surgery in children aged two and younger is generally safe when appropriate surgical methods and follow-up care are used. They emphasized, however, the importance of informing parents about longer hospitalizations and the potential need for future procedures.

The study was rejected by several journals, not because of its scientific content, but because of a dedication written for Levy, which stated that he was murdered while treating patients, Ziv said. The team refused to remove the section.

Ultimately, the study was accepted and published with the dedication intact: “In memory of our beloved Dr. Daniel Levi, who was brutally murdered on 7/10/23 while treating patients in the infirmary of Kibbutz Be’eri.”

Levi’s widow said the timing of the publication; just days before what would have been his 37th birthday, was especially emotional.

“It’s an enormous source of pride,” Lihi Levi said. “But it also sharpens the sense of everything he didn’t get to finish.”

Colleagues remembered Levi as meticulous, deeply committed, and driven by both patient care and scientific rigor.

“Beyond everything else,” Ziv said, “this study ensures that Daniel’s work, his name and his impact will remain part of medicine.”