By W. J. McCormick, MD
Summary: Dr. McCormick comments on his clinical success in using ascorbic acid—injected intravenously or intramuscularly—to fight infectious disease. He attributes the efficacy of the acid to "its chemical action as a reducing or oxidizing agent," allowing it to "rapidly neutralize" viral or bacterial toxins and adds that, unlike pharmaceutical agents, its use has no side effects. McCormick goes on to cite several studies supporting his clinical findings and suggests that the real reason for the reduction in rates of infectious diseases in America such as tuberculosis, diphtheria, and polio was not vaccines but the huge increase in availability of foods high in vitamin C, including citrus fruits and tomatoes. Unfortunately, throughout the document McCormick equates ascorbic acid with the entire vitamin C complex, which, as early vitamin research showed, is inaccurate. Ascorbic acid is but one part of natural vitamin C, the other fractions including rutin and other bioflavonoids, the enzyme tyrosinase, and in all likelihood other factors still yet to be identified. In fact, as Dr. Royal Lee pointed out, ascorbic acid is most likely just the part of the vitamin C complex that protects the other fractions, likely through the very same oxidative properties that make it useful as an anti-pathogenic agent. From the Archives of Pediatrics. Reprint 5C, 1952.
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