Wallace Sampson
Wallace Sampson was an American medical doctor, hematologist-oncologist, and a prominent critic of alternative medicine, particularly complementary and alternative medicine (CAM). He held significant roles as the editor-in-chief of the Scientific Review of Alternative Medicine and was affiliated with the National Council Against Health Fraud, advocating for public awareness regarding unscientific medical practices. Sampson's educational background includes an undergraduate degree from the University of California, Berkeley, and a medical degree from the University of California, San Francisco. Throughout his career, he emphasized the need for scientific skepticism, contributing to platforms like Science-Based Medicine and engaging in educational events such as the Skeptic's Toolbox.
Sampson was notably critical of acupuncture, arguing that its effects are largely comparable to those of benign activities or distractions rather than substantive medical treatments. He contended that many claims made by proponents of alternative medicine lacked scientific validity, famously asserting that "alternative medicine doesn't exist." His efforts included advocating for the reevaluation of funding for institutions like the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, which he believed had not demonstrated the efficacy of alternative methods. Sampson's work was characterized by a commitment to rigorous scientific inquiry and a desire to protect public health from misleading medical claims.
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Wallace Sampson
American medical doctor and critic of alternative medicine
- Born: March 29, 1930; Los Angeles, CaliforniaDied: May 15, 2015; Los Altos, California
Overview
American medical doctor and critic of alternative medicine. Wallace Sampson, an American professor, hematologist-oncologist, and editor-in-chief of the Scientific Review of Alternative Medicine, was best known for investigating and teaching about medical systems or practices that could be classified as unscientific. These practices included complementary and alternative medicine (CAM). His work also focused on the exploration of aberrant medical claims.
Sampson was affiliated with the National Council Against Health Fraud and many other organizations working to protect the public from bogus medical practices and products. In line with the sentiments of many other critics of CAM, Sampson was reported as saying of alternative medicine that “It doesn’t exist.” He added that “We’ve looked into most of the practices and, biochemically or physically, their supposed effects lie somewhere between highly improbable and impossible.”
In 1952, Sampson obtained an undergraduate degree from the University of California, Berkeley, and in 1955, he received his medical degree from the University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine. He was the chief of medical oncology at the Santa Clara Valley Medical Center and a clinical professor emeritus of medicine at the Stanford University School of Medicine. He was a contributor to the internet site Science-Based Medicine, which evaluates, from a scientific perspective, medical treatments and products of interest to the public. Sampson was on the faculty of the Skeptic’s Toolbox, a four-day annual workshop devoted to scientific skepticism, and was also a fellow for the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry (CSI) which included him in their CSI Pantheon of Skeptics in 2011.
Sampson was especially critical of acupuncture, arguing that acupuncture triggered a response similar (in terms of endorphin release) to “a walk in the woods, a five-mile run, or a pinch on the butt.” He claimed that acupuncture had no effect on disease processes but added that it could serve as a type of distraction from a person’s primary health complaint.
In a 2005 article, Sampson argued unsuccessfully that the US Congress should cease funding the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) because, he suggested, the center has failed to prove the effectiveness of any alternative method. The money required for the operation of this center, he further argued, could be applied more effectively to proven research endeavors. He further stated that NCCAM was ridden with potential and actual conflicts of interest and that most recipients of money from this branch consistently failed to deliver positive results.
Bibliography
Hall, Harriet. “Physician Wallace Sampson, Expert on False Medical Claims, Dies at Eighty-Five.” Skeptical Inquirer, 1 June 2015, skepticalinquirer.org/exclusive/physician-wallace-sampson-expert-on-false-medical-claims-dies-at-eighty-fiv. Accessed 16 Aug. 2023.
Harmanci, Reyhan. “Healthy Doubts: Wallace Sampson—Alternative Medicine Doesn’t Exist and Acupuncture Is Useless, He Says.” San Francisco Gate, August 31, 2006. articles.sfgate.com/2006-08-31/entertainment/17309357‗1‗acupuncture-alternative-medicine-western-medicine.
Pecker, Jean. “Pantheon of Skeptics.” Skeptical Inquirer, skepticalinquirer.org/pantheon-of-skeptics. Accessed 16 Aug. 2023.
Sampson, Wallace. “Whatever Happened to Plausibility as the Basis for Clinical Research and Practice After EBM and CAM Rushed In?” Medscape, January 26, 2007. www.medscape.com/viewarticle/548128.