FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Orthomolecular Medicine News Service, July 16, 2025

From Censorship to Recognition: Orthomolecular Medicine Going Mainstream

By Richard Z. Cheng, M.D., Ph.D.

Editor-in-Chief, OMNS | Expert Medical Reviewer, SC Board of Medical Examiners

🔹 Executive Summary

📌 Appointed Expert Medical Reviewer by the South Carolina Board of Medical Examiners-reflecting growing institutional recognition of orthomolecular, low-carb, and root-cause-based medical approaches.

📌 Invited to present to Children's Health Defense (CHD)-a leading voice in medical freedom and vaccine safety-on infant liver detox, vaccine risk, and the Integrative Orthomolecular Medicine (IOM) model.

📌 These developments signal a broader cultural and medical shift-driven by the MAHA (Make America Healthy Again) movement-toward transparency, prevention, and patient-centered care over pharmaceutical dependence.

📌 The future of healthcare is moving toward:

• 🧬 Root-cause resolution
• 🍎 Orthomolecular and metabolic nutrition
• 🧪 Detoxification and cellular repair
• ♻️ Regenerative, patient-centered care

1. From Marginalization to Recognition

In 2020, I publicly challenged the vaccine-only approach to COVID-19, advocating instead for integrative orthomolecular medicine strategies to support natural immunity. For this, I was labeled an "anti-vaxxer," censored, intimidated, and sidelined.

The pressure became very real when my name was explicitly cited in an open warning letter from the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC)-sent to another physician but quoting me directly in connection with high-dose intravenous vitamin C for COVID-19. This letter wasn't private; it was publicly posted and widely circulated online. To see my name in an official government enforcement document-for all to see-was deeply unsettling. It felt like a loud and clear message: Stay silent, or face consequences.

And yet, I stood by my conscience, science, and my clinical experience. Ironically, the very efforts that once drew government scrutiny later led to my induction into the Orthomolecular Medicine Hall of Fame.

👉 FTC Warning Letter (May 13, 2020)

More recently, a symbolic reversal occurred. I was surprised to receive an invitation to serve as an Expert Medical Reviewer for the South Carolina Board of Medical Examiners-an opportunity that, just a few years ago, would have seemed out of reach for someone openly critical of many aspects of conventional medicine, especially its handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, and a strong advocate for orthomolecular and low-carb approaches. During COVID-19, we witnessed many colleagues-and brave medical freedom advocates-investigated, disciplined, or even stripped of their medical licenses for speaking out. Frankly, I was nervous about the vetting process. But I chose to be fully transparent about my long-standing commitment to root-cause, nutrition-based care. To my surprise, not only was this accepted-it was embraced.

Frankly, I was nervous about the vetting process. I chose to be fully transparent about my long-standing commitment to root-cause, nutrition-first care. To my surprise, not only was this accepted-it was embraced.

This moment goes far beyond personal recognition. It reflects a deeper, broader awakening within the healthcare system. As the MAHA movement-a grassroots call for medical freedom, scientific transparency, and patient-centered care-continues to gain momentum, orthomolecular principles are finally receiving the recognition they have long deserved.

This signals a larger cultural and medical shift especially in the United States. Under the influence of the MAHA (Make America Healthy Again) movement, the focus is increasingly turning toward:

• ✅ Scientific openness
• ✅ Medical freedom
• ✅ Root-cause, patient-centered care

What was once censored is now gaining institutional recognition. The future of medicine is moving toward:

• 🧬 Root-cause resolution
• 🍎 Orthomolecular nutrition
• 🧪 Detox and metabolic repair
• ♻️ Regeneration and prevention

This is not just a personal milestone-it may mark a turning point in the USA as well as internationally. The system is waking up. And it's about time.

2. The CHD Presentation: A Model for the Future of Medicine

I was recently invited to deliver a presentation to Children's Health Defense (CHD) on the topic of infant liver detoxification, vaccine safety, and the Integrative Orthomolecular Medicine (IOM) model.

📽 Watch the CHD Presentation

🧭 Key Takeaways

• Toxin overload and micronutrient deficiency significantly impair liver detox and immune development in infants.
• Orthomolecular nutrition-especially vitamins A, B, C, D, K2, Mg and glutathione support-can improve detox capacity and reduce vaccine-related risks.
• The IOM framework offers documented clinical reversals in ASCVD, cancer, and other chronic conditions.
• The Triple Principle Intervention Model™: Safety | Effectiveness | Accessibility

🔬 Referenced Study: Goldman & Cheng, 2025 - Int J Med Sci on infant liver enzyme immaturity

3. A National Awakening

The CHD presentation and my state medical board appointment are not isolated events-they are part of a larger shift. Across the country, both patients and practitioners are questioning the one-size-fits-all, pharmaceutical-dominated model of healthcare.

This is the heart of the MAHA movement (Make America Healthy Again)-a grassroots push to reclaim healthcare through:

• Transparent science
• Medical choice
• Nutrition-based healing
• Preventive and regenerative strategies

As more clinicians and institutions embrace these principles, Integrative Orthomolecular Medicine is no longer fringe-it is foundational to the future of healthcare.

🌱 Final Thoughts

The past few years have exposed the limits of conventional medicine-and revealed the quiet strength of nutrition, detoxification, and metabolic repair. Orthomolecular medicine, long censored and sidelined, is now entering the mainstream.

This is not just a personal transformation. It is a public turning point.

And it's only the beginning.

📌 About the Author

Richard Z. Cheng, M.D., Ph.D. - Editor-in-Chief, Orthomolecular Medicine News Service; Expert Medical Reviewer, South Carolina Board of Medical Examiners
Dr. Cheng is a U.S.-trained and board-certified physician practicing in both the USA and China. He specializes in integrative and orthomolecular medicine, with clinical expertise in low-carb nutrition, high-dose vitamin therapy, anti-aging, and functional medicine. He also serves internationally as a medical educator, health consultant, and advocate for root-cause, nutrition-based healthcare reform.

📰 Follow his latest insights on Substack: https://substack.com/@rzchengmd

Orthomolecular Medicine

Orthomolecular medicine uses safe, effective nutritional therapy to fight illness. For more information: http://www.orthomolecular.org

Find a Doctor

To locate an orthomolecular physician near you: http://orthomolecular.org/resources/omns/v06n09.shtml

The peer-reviewed Orthomolecular Medicine News Service is a non-profit and non-commercial informational resource.

Editorial Review Board:

Jennifer L. Aliano, M.S., L.Ac., C.C.N. (USA)
Albert G. B. Amoa, MB.Ch.B, Ph.D. (Ghana)
Seth Ayettey, M.B., Ch.B., Ph.D. (Ghana)
Ilyès Baghli, M.D. (Algeria)
Greg Beattie, Author (Australia)
Barry Breger, M.D. (Canada)
Ian Brighthope, MBBS, FACNEM (Australia)
Gilbert Henri Crussol, D.M.D. (Spain)
Carolyn Dean, M.D., N.D. (USA)
Ian Dettman, Ph.D. (Australia)
Susan R. Downs, M.D., M.P.H. (USA)
Ron Ehrlich, B.D.S. (Australia)
Hugo Galindo, M.D. (Colombia)
Gary S. Goldman, Ph.D. (USA)
William B. Grant, Ph.D. (USA)
Claus Hancke, MD, FACAM (Denmark)
Patrick Holford, BSc (United Kingdom)
Ron Hunninghake, M.D. (USA)
Bo H. Jonsson, M.D., Ph.D. (Sweden)
Dwight Kalita, Ph.D. (USA)
Felix I. D. Konotey-Ahulu, M.D., FRCP (Ghana)
Peter H. Lauda, M.D. (Austria)
Fabrice Leu, N.D., (Switzerland)
Alan Lien, Ph.D. (Taiwan)
Homer Lim, M.D. (Philippines)
Stuart Lindsey, Pharm.D. (USA)
Pedro Gonzalez Lombana, M.D., Ph.D. (Colombia)
Diana MacKay (Gifford-Jones), M.P.P. (Canada)
Victor A. Marcial-Vega, M.D. (Puerto Rico)
Juan Manuel Martinez, M.D. (Colombia)
Mignonne Mary, M.D. (USA)
Dr.Aarti Midha M.D., ABAARM (India)
Jorge R. Miranda-Massari, Pharm.D. (Puerto Rico)
Karin Munsterhjelm-Ahumada, M.D. (Finland)
Sarah Myhill, MB, BS (United Kingdom)
Tahar Naili, M.D. (Algeria)
Zhiwei Ning, M.D., Ph.D. (China)
Zhiyong Peng, M.D. (China)
Pawel Pludowski, M.D. (Poland)
Isabella Akyinbah Quakyi, Ph.D. (Ghana)
Selvam Rengasamy, MBBS, FRCOG (Malaysia)
Jeffrey A. Ruterbusch, D.O. (USA)
Gert E. Schuitemaker, Ph.D. (Netherlands)
Thomas N. Seyfried, Ph.D. (USA)
Han Ping Shi, M.D., Ph.D. (China)
T.E. Gabriel Stewart, M.B.B.CH. (Ireland)
Jagan Nathan Vamanan, M.D. (India)
Dr. Sunil Wimalawansa, M.D., Ph.D. (Sri Lanka)

Andrew W. Saul, Ph.D. (USA), Founding Editor
Richard Cheng, M.D., Ph.D. (USA), Editor-In-Chief
Associate Editor: Robert G. Smith, Ph.D. (USA)
Editor, Japanese Edition: Atsuo Yanagisawa, M.D., Ph.D. (Japan)
Editor, Chinese Edition: Richard Cheng, M.D., Ph.D. (USA)
Editor, Norwegian Edition: Dag Viljen Poleszynski, Ph.D. (Norway)
Editor, Arabic Edition: Moustafa Kamel, R.Ph, P.G.C.M (Egypt)
Editor, Korean Edition: Hyoungjoo Shin, M.D. (South Korea)
Editor, Spanish Edition: Sonia Rita Rial, PhD (Argentina)
Editor, German Edition: Bernhard Welker, M.D. (Germany)
Associate Editor, Arabic Edition: Ayman Kamel, DVM, MBA (Egypt)
Associate Editor, German Edition: Gerhard Dachtler, M.Eng. (Germany)
Assistant Editor: Michael Passwater (USA)
Contributing Editor: Thomas E. Levy, M.D., J.D. (USA)
Contributing Editor: Damien Downing, M.B.B.S., M.R.S.B. (United Kingdom)
Contributing Editor: W. Todd Penberthy, Ph.D. (USA)
Contributing Editor: Michael J. Gonzalez, N.M.D., Ph.D. (Puerto Rico)
Technology Editor: Michael S. Stewart, B.Sc.C.S. (USA)
Associate Technology Editor: Robert C. Kennedy, M.S. (USA)
Legal Consultant: Jason M. Saul, JD (USA)

Comments and media contact: editor@orthomolecular.org OMNS welcomes but is unable to respond to individual reader emails. Reader comments become the property of OMNS and may or may not be used for publication.

To Subscribe at no charge: http://www.orthomolecular.org/subscribe.html

To Unsubscribe from this list: http://www.orthomolecular.org/unsubscribe.html