The Koch Method

Dr.William Frederick Koch pronounces his name to rhyme with joke. His patients have found very little to laugh at in his practice--which is bluntly described by the Journal of the American Medical Association as "Koch's cancer quackery"--though the families of his patients have often seen the point, too late. For years the federal Food & Drug Administration has had a suspicious eye on Dr. Koch. But last week he was still doing business at the same old stand: his "Koch Foundation," an old brownstone house on Detroit's East Jackson Street. And Dr. Koch's business was still brisk (about $100,000 a year).

Ever since 1919, a year after his graduation from a reputable medical school, Dr. Koch has been peddling "cancer cures" (TIME, Dec. 10, 1934; April 20, 1942). In 1942 he and his office-manager brother Louis were indicted for introducing a misbranded article into interstate commerce. The jury disagreed. The second trial, in 1946, ended when a juror became ill.

For $25 (sometimes a bargain rate of $15), testimony showed, Dr. Koch sells a two-cubic-centimeter ampoule of a drug he calls "glyoxylide." Until the law began reading them, the labels promised cures for "cancer, allergy, and infection." Food & Drug accuses him of claiming to cure "practically all human ills, including . . . tuberculosis." Glyoxylide, according to Dr. Koch, is the "internal anhydride" of glyoxylic acid. Chemists know all about glyoxylic acid, but they never heard of anybody having isolated its internal anhydride. Food & Drug Attorney William W. Goodrich said Government chemists could find nothing in it but distilled water, called it a "formula for nothing."

The Government's parade of witnesses gave some shocking testimony. They had, they said, followed Dr. Koch's instructions in treating cancer patients: first a "detoxicating regime" of enemas and a diet of fresh apple and vegetable juices, then injections of glyoxylide. Koch insisted that no other drugs be used except "the smallest amount of morphine by mouth only." Many of the victims might have died anyway, but his instructions denied them even enough morphine to ease their pain. An osteopath told of trying the Koch treatment on five cancer patients (including his wife); all died. Last fortnight the Federal Court was asked to nol-pros the case. Koch, the petition said, has changed the labels on his drug; they no longer claim a cure for anything. The Food & Drug Administration will continue to keep a suspicious eye on Dr. Koch. But interfering with his $100,000 business will not be easy; Koch is, says Lawyer Goodrich, "probably the smartest, brightest quack in the U.S."

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.