Ralph Walter Moss (born May 6, 1943) is an American author whose writings promote complementary and alternative cancer treatments. In 1974, he earned a PhD in

Classics Classics or classical studies is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, classics traditionally refers to the study of Classical Greek and Roman literature and their related original languages, Ancient Greek and Latin. Classics ...

from Stanford University. Moss served as a science writer at

Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK or MSKCC) is a cancer treatment and research institution in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, founded in 1884 as the New York Cancer Hospital. MSKCC is one of 52 National Cancer Institute– ...

in the 1970s. He was fired in 1977 by Sloan-Kettering after publicly accusing the institution of suppressing information on

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 cya ...

, a now-discredited alternative

cancer treatment Cancer can be treated by surgery, chemotherapy, radiation therapy, hormonal therapy, targeted therapy (including immunotherapy such as monoclonal antibody therapy) and synthetic lethality, most commonly as a series of separate treatments (e.g. ...

. He has subsequently served on the advisory board of the Office of Alternative Medicine, and he markets ''Moss Reports'' covering various forms of alternative medicine. His 1980 book ''The Cancer Industry'' was negatively reviewed by

Quackwatch Quackwatch is a United States-based website, self-described as a "network of people" founded by Stephen Barrett, which aims to "combat health-related frauds, myths, fads, fallacies, and misconduct" and to focus on "quackery-related information tha ...

, who noted that "the book is dangerous because it may induce desperate cancer patients to abandon sound, scientifically based medical care for a worthless "alternative." Moss's 1988 book ''Free Radical: Albert Szent-Györgyi and The Battle Over Vitamin C'' (with a preface by

Studs Terkel Louis "Studs" Terkel (May 16, 1912 – October 31, 2008) was an American writer, historian, actor, and broadcaster. He received the Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction in 1985 for '' The Good War'' and is best remembered for his oral his ...

) is a biography of the Nobel Laureate

Albert Szent-Györgyi Albert Imre Szent-Györgyi de Nagyrápolt ( hu, nagyrápolti Szent-Györgyi Albert Imre; September 16, 1893 – October 22, 1986) was a Hungarian biochemist who won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1937. He is credited with fi ...

. The biography was reviewed by Ed Regis for the ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

''.

References

External links

* http://www.mossreports.com - Moss' website {{DEFAULTSORT:Moss, Ralph W. American science writers 1943 births Alternative cancer treatment advocates Alternative medicine activists Living people New York University alumni Stanford University alumni