William Frederick Koch (1885–1967) was a

U.S. The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguous ...

medical doctor A physician, medical practitioner (British English), medical doctor, or simply doctor is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through the study, diagnosis, prognosis ...

and

pharmaceutical Medication (also called medicament, medicine, pharmaceutical drug, medicinal product, medicinal drug or simply drug) is a drug used to diagnose, cure, treat, or prevent disease. Drug therapy ( pharmacotherapy) is an important part of the ...

entrepreneur. In the 1940s he marketed

glyoxylide Ethylene dione or ethylenedione, also called dicarbon dioxide, Carbon peroxide, ethenedione, or ethene-1,2-dione, is a chemical compound with the formula or . It is an oxide of carbon (an oxocarbon), and can be described as the carbon-carbon cov ...

, a drug which he claimed would cure

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving Cell growth#Disorders, abnormal cell growth with the potential to Invasion (cancer), invade or Metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Po ...

. The claims were never scientifically proved, and he was considered a

charlatan A charlatan (also called a swindler or mountebank) is a person practicing quackery or a similar confidence trick in order to obtain money, power, fame, or other advantages through pretense or deception. One example of a charlatan appears in t ...

by the

United States Food and Drug Administration The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA or US FDA) is a List of United States federal agencies, federal agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Health and Human Services. The FDA is respo ...

(FDA).

Biography

Koch was born in

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

. He obtained a BA in Chemistry from the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

in 1909 and an MA in 1910. In 1916 he obtained a

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

from the

. There, Koch learned the principles of

homeopathy Homeopathy or homoeopathy is a pseudoscientific system of alternative medicine. It was conceived in 1796 by the German physician Samuel Hahnemann. Its practitioners, called homeopaths or homeopathic physicians, believe that a substance that ...

from A. W. Dewey. In 1914 he was appointed Professor of Physiology at the

Detroit College of Medicine The Wayne State University School of Medicine (WSUSOM) is the medical school of Wayne State University, a public research university in Detroit, Michigan. It enrolls more than 1,500 students in undergraduate medical education, master's degree, P ...

and subsequently became Chairman of that department. He received an MD degree in 1918 from the

.Davenport, Horace W. (1999). ''Not Just Any Medical School''. University of Michigan Press. p. 55. Around 1919, Koch was advertising a product "synthetic anti-toxin" as a cancer cure. The product was dismissed by the

American Medical Association The American Medical Association (AMA) is an American professional association and lobbying group of physicians and medical students. This medical association was founded in 1847 and is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. Membership was 271,660 ...

and Wayne County Medical Society as a fraudulent cancer cure and is considered an example of quackery. In the 1920s, Koch falsely advertised his cancer cure product as being sponsored by the University of Michigan. The university dissociated itself from Koch's

quackery Quackery, often synonymous with health fraud, is the promotion of fraudulent or Ignorance, ignorant medicine, medical practices. A quack is a "fraudulent or ignorant pretender to medical skill" or "a person who pretends, professionally or public ...

. In the early 1940s, Koch announced his discovery of glyoxylide, a miracle drug that would cure a long list of diseases, even when administered at one part per trillion dilution. He sold the drug through an entity called the Christian Medical Research League. He never revealed his process for the manufacture of glyoxylide, and there never was any evidence that glyoxylide in any amount had any therapeutic effect. Analysis showed it to be distilled water. Over 3,000 health practitioners in the U.S. paid $25 per

ampoule An ampoule (also ampul and ampule) is a small sealed vial which is used to contain and preserve a sample, usually a solid or liquid. Ampoules are usually made of glass. Modern ampoules are most commonly used to contain pharmaceuticals and chem ...

for Koch's treatment and charged patients as much as $300 for a single injection. The FDA sued Koch twice, in 1943 and 1946, but failed to get a conviction. After an inspection of his laboratories by the FDA, Koch announced his retirement, and moved to

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

in 1950. A product known as the Koch treatment continued to be sold in

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

long after it disappeared in the United States. Biographer

Jay Robert Nash Jay Robert Nash (November 26, 1937 – April 22, 2024) was an American author of more than 80 true crime books once called the "world's foremost encyclopedist of crime.""Jay Robert Nash," Baker & Taylor Author Biographies, Literary Reference Plus ...

has written that Koch was an "infamous

quack Quack, The Quack or Quacks may refer to: People * Quack Davis, American baseball player * Hendrick Peter Godfried Quack (1834–1917), Dutch economist and historian * Joachim Friedrich Quack (born 1966), German Egyptologist * Johannes Quack ...

throughout his entire career."Nash, Jay Robert. (1982). ''Zanies: The World's Greatest Eccentrics''. New Century Publishers. p. 212.

Selected publications

''Natural Immunity: Its Curative Chemistry In Neoplasia, Allergy, Infection''
(1934)
''The Chemistry Of Natural Immunity''
(1939)
''The Survival Factor In Neoplastic And Viral Diseases William Koch''
(1955)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Koch, William Frederick 1885 births 1967 deaths Alternative cancer treatment advocates American homeopaths Physicians from Detroit Pseudoscientific diet advocates University of Michigan College of Literature, Science, and the Arts alumni Wayne State University School of Medicine alumni