Wallace Sampson (March 29, 1930 – May 25, 2015),
also known as Wally,
was an American
medical doctor
A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...
and
consumer advocate
Consumer protection is the practice of safeguarding buyers of goods and services, and the public, against unfair practices in the marketplace. Consumer protection measures are often established by law. Such laws are intended to prevent business ...
against
alternative medicine
Alternative medicine is any practice that aims to achieve the healing effects of medicine despite lacking biological plausibility, testability, repeatability, or evidence from clinical trials. Complementary medicine (CM), complementary and alt ...
and other
fraud
In law, fraud is intentional deception to secure unfair or unlawful gain, or to deprive a victim of a legal right. Fraud can violate civil law (e.g., a fraud victim may sue the fraud perpetrator to avoid the fraud or recover monetary compens ...
schemes.
[Antiscience Trends in the Rise of the 'Alternative Medicine' Movement, Wallace Sampson, 17 DEC 2006, Annals of the ]New York Academy of Sciences
The New York Academy of Sciences (originally the Lyceum of Natural History) was founded in January 1817 as the Lyceum of Natural History. It is the fourth oldest scientific society in the United States. An independent, nonprofit organization wit ...
/ref>[SFGate: Healthy Doubts, ''Wallace Sampson – Alternative medicine doesn't exist and acupuncture is useless, he says'', Reyhan Harmanci, SF Chronicle, August 31, 2006]
/ref>[Closer to the Truth, ''Wallace Sampson, Physician, Consumer Health Advocate'', ]Public Broadcasting System
The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educati ...
/ref>[Traditional Medicine and Pseudoscience in China: A Report of the Second CSICOP Delegation, Special Report, Barry L. Beyerstein and Wallace Sampson, Center for Inquiry, Volume 20.4, July / August 1996] He was an authority in numerous medical fields, including oncology
Oncology is a branch of medicine that deals with the study, treatment, diagnosis and prevention of cancer. A medical professional who practices oncology is an ''oncologist''. The name's etymological origin is the Greek word ὄγκος (''ó ...
, hematology
Hematology ( always spelled haematology in British English) is the branch of medicine concerned with the study of the cause, prognosis, treatment, and prevention of diseases related to blood. It involves treating diseases that affect the produc ...
, and pathology
Pathology is the study of the causes and effects of disease or injury. The word ''pathology'' also refers to the study of disease in general, incorporating a wide range of biology research fields and medical practices. However, when used in ...
. He was Emeritus Professor of Clinical Medicine at Stanford University. He was the former Head of Medical Oncology at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center
Santa Clara Valley Medical Center, commonly known as Valley Medical Center or simply Valley Medical, is a prominent 731-bed public tertiary referral hospital, tertiary, teaching hospital, teaching, and research hospital in San Jose, California. Lo ...
,[ and a member of the faculty at the ]Skeptic's Toolbox
The Skeptic's Toolbox is an annual four-day workshop devoted to scientific skepticism. It was formed by psychologist and now-retired University of Oregon professor Ray Hyman, has been held every August since 1992, and is sponsored by the Committ ...
1998–2008.
Scientific skepticism
Wallace Sampson was an international expert in exposing pseudoscience-based fraudulent schemes in medicine and other fields, such as alternative medicine
Alternative medicine is any practice that aims to achieve the healing effects of medicine despite lacking biological plausibility, testability, repeatability, or evidence from clinical trials. Complementary medicine (CM), complementary and alt ...
, integrative medicine
Alternative medicine is any practice that aims to achieve the healing effects of medicine despite lacking biological plausibility, testability, repeatability, or evidence from clinical trials. Complementary medicine (CM), complementary and alte ...
, traditional Chinese medicine
Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is an alternative medical practice drawn from traditional medicine in China. It has been described as "fraught with pseudoscience", with the majority of its treatments having no logical mechanism of action ...
, acupuncture
Acupuncture is a form of alternative medicine and a component of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) in which thin needles are inserted into the body. Acupuncture is a pseudoscience; the theories and practices of TCM are not based on scientifi ...
, and chiropractic
Chiropractic is a form of alternative medicine concerned with the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of mechanical disorders of the musculoskeletal system, especially of the spine. It has esoteric origins and is based on several pseudosci ...
. He publicized the expression "antiscience
Antiscience is a set of attitudes that involve a rejection of science and the scientific method. People holding antiscientific views do not accept science as an objective method that can generate universal knowledge. Antiscience commonly manifes ...
" to refer to the basis of belief in alternative medicine in his title for a peer reviewed paper published by the New York Academy of Sciences
The New York Academy of Sciences (originally the Lyceum of Natural History) was founded in January 1817 as the Lyceum of Natural History. It is the fourth oldest scientific society in the United States. An independent, nonprofit organization wit ...
– ''"Antiscience Trends in the Rise of the 'Alternative Medicine' Movement"''.[ He taught the ]Stanford University School of Medicine
Stanford University School of Medicine is the medical school of Stanford University and is located in Stanford, California. It traces its roots to the Medical Department of the University of the Pacific, founded in San Francisco in 1858. This ...
''Alternative Medicine'' course regarding ''"unscientific medical systems and aberrant medical claims"''.[ The ]San Francisco Chronicle
The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and M. H. de Young, Michael H. de ...
quotes him as saying ''"We've looked into most of the practices and, biochemically or physically, their supposed effects lie somewhere between highly improbable and impossible."''
He was a founding editor of the Scientific Review of Alternative Medicine
The ''Scientific Review of Alternative Medicine'' is a discontinued peer-reviewed medical journal published by the Commission for Scientific Medicine and Mental Health. It was established by Wallace Sampson (Stanford University) and Paul Kurtz (Co ...
, former Chair of the Board of Directors of the National Council against Health Fraud
The National Council Against Health Fraud (NCAHF) was a not-for-profit, US-based organization, that described itself as a "private nonprofit, voluntary health agency that focuses upon health misinformation, fraud, and quackery as public health p ...
, former Chair of the State of California Cancer Advisory Council (advisory board on health fraud schemes), and consulted on medical fraud and other fraud schemes for the Medical Board of California
The Medical Board of California (MBC) is a state government agency which licenses and disciplines physicians, surgeons and certain allied healthcare professionals in California. The Board provides two principal types of services to consumers: (1) ...
, Association of State Medical Boards, California State Attorney General
In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general.
In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...
, US Postal Service
The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or Postal Service, is an independent agency of the executive branch of the United States federal government responsible for providing postal service in the U ...
, multiple district attorney
In the United States, a district attorney (DA), county attorney, state's attorney, prosecuting attorney, commonwealth's attorney, or state attorney is the chief prosecutor and/or chief law enforcement officer representing a U.S. state in a l ...
s, and multiple insurance companies. Sampson has published numerous academic papers in various medical fields, as well as popular works including for the Saturday Evening Post
''The Saturday Evening Post'' is an American magazine, currently published six times a year. It was issued weekly under this title from 1897 until 1963, then every two weeks until 1969. From the 1920s to the 1960s, it was one of the most widely c ...
.[ He was also a fellow of the ]Committee for Skeptical Inquiry
The Committee for Skeptical Inquiry (CSI), formerly known as the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal (CSICOP), is a program within the US non-profit organization Center for Inquiry (CFI), which seeks to "prom ...
(CSI). In April 2011 the executive council of CSI selected Sampson for inclusion in the CSI Pantheon of Skeptics. The Pantheon of Skeptics was created by CSI to remember the legacy of deceased fellows of CSI and their contributions to the cause of scientific skepticism.
He was an editor of the scientific skepticism website Science-Based Medicine
''Science-Based Medicine'' is a website and blog with articles covering issues in science and medicine, especially medical scams and practices. Founded in 2008, it is owned and operated by the New England Skeptical Society and run by Steven N ...
.
In a eulogy for Sampson, friend Harriet Hall
Harriet A. Hall (born July 2, 1945) is a U.S. retired family physician, former U.S. Air Force flight surgeon and skeptic who writes about alternative medicine and quackery for ''Skeptic'' and ''Skeptical Inquirer''. She writes under the name The ...
wrote that she owes her own career in skepticism
Skepticism, also spelled scepticism, is a questioning attitude or doubt toward knowledge claims that are seen as mere belief or dogma. For example, if a person is skeptical about claims made by their government about an ongoing war then the pe ...
to Sampson. He is the person that encouraged her to write about pseudoscience topics, and learn how to evaluate claims. She had met him at the Skeptic's Toolbox
The Skeptic's Toolbox is an annual four-day workshop devoted to scientific skepticism. It was formed by psychologist and now-retired University of Oregon professor Ray Hyman, has been held every August since 1992, and is sponsored by the Committ ...
where he was a part of the faculty. When he decided to step down from that lecture position she was the person who was asked to replace him. Hall reports that Sampson first became interested in writing about skepticism topics when his patients kept asking about using Laetrile
Amygdalin (from Ancient Greek: ' "almond") is a naturally occurring chemical compound found in many plants, most notably in the seeds (kernels) of apricots, bitter almonds, apples, peaches, cherries, and plums.
Amygdalin is classified as a ...
to treat cancer. He researched the topic and found that it was a bogus claim.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sampson, Wallace
1930 births
2015 deaths
American oncologists
American skeptics
Consumer rights activists
Critics of alternative medicine