Henry Heimlich, the medical maverick who came up with a maneuver credited with saving thousands of choking victims but who damaged his standing as a proponent of the curative powers of malaria, died on Saturday at the age of 96.

Heimlich, a doctor who developed a lifesaving technique to dislodge airway blockages through a well-placed, forceful hug from behind, died at Christ Hospital in Cincinnati of complications from a massive heart attack he suffered on Monday, his family said in a statement.

A thoracic surgeon who often feuded with the established medical community, Heimlich said the maneuver named after him saved more than 100,000 lives. He claimed to have used it himself in May on another resident of the Cincinnati retirement home where he lived.