Dr. Vincent DeQuattro; Hypertension Expert at USC

Dr. Vincent DeQuattro, a cardiologist and expert on hypertension who taught at the USC Keck School of Medicine for 35 years, has died. He was 67.

DeQuattro died Aug. 17 after a heart attack while snorkeling in waters off Maui.

The South Pasadena resident was for many years the chief of the hypertension service at the Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center. He wrote more than 140 articles and 40 chapters in medical textbooks, focusing mainly on the causes, prevention and treatment of hypertension and heart failure.

He was also a leading expert on adrenal cancer who in 1999 became a champion of Steve Kubby, the Libertarian candidate for governor in 1998 and a chief backer of California’s landmark 1996 medical marijuana measure.

DeQuattro treated Kubby in the 1970s when he was diagnosed with a rare form of adrenal cancer that typically kills within five years. He lost track of his patient when Kubby moved out of state, but contacted him in 1998 when he saw Kubby’s picture on the voters pamphlet for that year’s general election. He was astonished that Kubby was still alive.

Kubby had been treating himself with medical marijuana and claims it has kept him alive. After conducting tests, DeQuattro concluded that the marijuana was counteracting what normally would be lethal levels of adrenal fluids in Kubby’s blood. He wrote to authorities in Placer County, where Kubby was arrested for cultivating marijuana, and urged that Kubby be allowed to continue his marijuana therapy.

“I’ve never prescribed medical marijuana, I’m not an advocate,” DeQuattro told The Times, “but in some way his therapy has kept him alive.”

DeQuattro joined the Keck School of Medicine as an assistant professor in 1964, eventually becoming a professor and, in 1974, chief of the hypertension service. He earned a bachelor’s degree from UC San Francisco in 1960 and a medical degree from George Washington University Medical School. His professional affiliations included membership in the American Society of Hypertension, the American College of Cardiology and the American College of Physicians.

He is survived by his wife, Dr. De-Ping “Debora” Li DeQuattro, seven children, four grandchildren, two brothers and a sister.

A funeral service will be held at 7 p.m. today at Holy Family Church, 1501 Fremont Ave., South Pasadena. Visitation will be held from 2 to 5 p.m. at Cabot & Sons Mortuary, 300 N. Fair Oaks Ave., Pasadena.

Donations may be made to the White Memorial Medical Center Charitable Foundation, 1720 E. Cesar Chavez Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90033.