Richard Brasington, MD, an internationally renowned clinical rheumatologist, drowned in the North Fork River in Missouri on April 30, The Kansas City Star reported May 1.
The 71-year-old was fishing when he waded into the river. For unknown reasons, he went underwater at 10 a.m., the Missouri State Highway Patrol told the Star. His body was pulled from the river at 2:15 p.m.
Dr. Brasington was a "nationally and internationally known clinical rheumatologist," according to Chester, Ill.-based Memorial Hospital, where he worked starting in 2022. He was on "America's Best Doctors" list for many years, the hospital added.
Dr. Brasington also had been a faculty member at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis since 1996, where he received the university's Distinguished Educator Award in 2015.
"Words can't describe" his impact on rheumatology, Lacey Feigl-Lenzen, rheumatology fellowship coordinator and lupus clinic clinical coordinator at the university, told the Star.