David Emerson Root

David E. Root, M.D., M.P.H.
Born	March, 1936 Salt Lake City, Utah
Nationality	American
Known for	Human Detoxification
Medical career
Sub-specialties	Occupational and Environmental Medicine
Website	www.somg.net

David Emerson Root, M.D., M.P.H. (born March, 1936) is an American occupational and environmental physician who is a leading expert in human detoxification. Dr. Root is a pioneer in the unconventional use of the sauna detox protocol, or Purification Rundown, originally developed by American author and Church of Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard, to treat workplace toxic chemical exposures. Since 1982, Root has supervised the detoxification of over 4,000 individuals from around the world suffering from the negative health effects of occupational or environmental exposure to lipophilic, or fat-soluble toxins.

Board Certified in Aerospace and Occupational Medicine, David Root served in the United States Air Force for 20 years before retiring with the rank of Colonel as Chief Flight Surgeon and Senior Pilot to go into private practice in Sacramento, California. Dr. Root is the Senior Medical Advisor to the International Academy of Detoxification Specialists, (IADS) and serves on the advisory board of The Heroes Health Fund, a subsidiary of IADS, which was established to provide support for humanitarian projects assisting firefighters, police, EMTs, veterans and others harmed by toxic exposures in the line of duty. Most notably, this Fund provided free detoxification services to over 900 First Responders of 9/11 at the New York Rescue Workers Detoxification Project centers where Dr. Root was the acting Senior Medical Advisor.

"I've now put nearly 4,000 individuals through the Hubbard detoxification program," Dr. Root said. "I can say without a doubt that it works. It's still the only treatment that addresses the effects of accumulated toxins, and there's nothing else on the horizon."

BACKGROUND

Throughout his career, Dr. David Root's military responsibilities included the elimination or reduction of exposure from toxic hazards in the workplace, such as special fuels, lubricants and solvents, as well as the negative long-term health effects from the body burden of these lipophilic toxins.

Upon retiring from the Air Force in 1981, he and his wife, Mary, relocated from Wright Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, to California in order to open his private practice which, in time, incorporated as Sacramento Occupational Medical Group. As his client base of employers grew, so did the number of chemical exposure and drug addiction cases. In a 2007 interview with the Sacramento News & Review Dr. Root says,

"One [case] that comes to mind is two gentlemen that were painters working inside a 650,000 gallon water tank, painting the inside of the tank without any personal protective equipment. And, of course, they were inhaling all these fumes because they were inside this giant tank with no proper ventilation. And they both got very sick. … I saw them about a year after the exposure. They were still sick, still ataxic, that is staggering, walking down the hallways, bumping into both walls and so forth.

About that time, just serendipitously, I came across a company that was just starting up downtown in Sacramento, which had this detoxification program. I referred the two guys in. They didn’t get as much improvement as I had hoped. But they were both improved to some degree.

But I started referring in patients who had been exposed to street drugs, some people exposed to prescription drugs. Both narcotics and some of the psychoactive drugs are fat soluble. They did extremely well. I ended up incorporating that program into my practice. We just co-located, put it all together in one package."

In 1983 he joined forces with HealthMed, a startup venture of Scientologists in need of an non-biased Medical Director for their commercial, medically supervised version of LRH's Purification Rundown detoxification program, after he and his wife underwent the medically unorthodox program themselves. Although criticized and ridiculed for promoting L. Ron Hubbard's unproven method, Dr. Root, a devout Christian, points out in the same SNR article,

"If you look my name up on the Internet, you would think I was a scientology buff. I am an elder in the Presbyterian Church. I am not a scientologist. We have never tried to proselytize for the Church of Scientology. It’s just the fact that, by gosh, Hubbard put this thing together. He deserves recognition for that. … We have no ties to the Church of Scientology. We don’t send any money to them. We don’t try to sign up people to be scientologists. We’re very upfront about how L. Ron Hubbard developed this."

Soon after, Dr. Root was invited to serve as the Senior Medical Advisor on the advisory board of the Foundation for Advancements in Science and Education (FASE), established in 1981 as a coalition of educators, researchers, physicians, scientists, environmentalists and other professionals. When challenged about any ties to the Church of Scientology, Keith Miller, president of FASE, says his organization deals in objective data and that religion has nothing to do with it.”

According to Brandy Zadrozny, Miller provided The Daily Beast with a 1998 letter from FASE’s then-legal counsel stating the group “is not part of the Church of Scientology or any other church or any other organization for that matter; and any statement, report, or inference to the contrary is false."

Fat-soluble Toxins and Surprising Sources

Scientists have been studying pollutants in air, water and on land for decades. Now they're studying pollution in people and the findings are troubling.

In a study led by Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York, nine adults from five states volunteered to submit blood and urine samples for a broad suite of chemical analyses. Researchers at two major laboratories found an average of 91 industrial compounds, pollutants, and other chemicals in the blood and urine of the nine volunteers, with a total of 167 chemicals found in the group. Like most of us, the people tested do not work with chemicals on the job and do not live near an industrial facility.

Scientists refer to this contamination as a person’s body burden. Of the 167 chemicals found, 76 cause cancer in humans or animals, 94 are toxic to the brain and nervous system, and 79 cause birth defects or abnormal development. The dangers of exposure to these chemicals in combination has never been studied.

A sampling of fat-soluble toxins that the average person is exposed to in their lifetime includes pesticides, herbicides, chlorine, fluoride, radiation, drugs, food additives, and heavy metals such as lead, arsenic, mercury, aluminum, zinc, cadmium, chromium and iron.

Besides environmental and occupational chemical exposures, the bioaccumulation of these toxins can also be attributed to antiperspirants, clothing, cleaning and laundry products, food coloring, preservatives, Geoengineering, and genetically engineered crops, or GMOs, resistant to the overs praying of pesticides and herbicides.

Detoxification Program

The Hubbard detoxification methodology has been widely implemented, studied, and demonstrated to be safe and effective. Hubbard began researching the effects of radiation and chemicals on the human body in 1940s and 1950s. He developed and piloted various detoxification protocols in the 1970s, which evolved into the present methodology. The program is used extensively in drug rehabilitation, through the Narconon group.

The basic elements of the Hubbard detoxification program are the following: • Daily doses of immediate-release niacin. • Moderate aerobic exercise. • Intermittent sauna to force sweating, a primary elimination route for toxins.

Subjects take frequent showers to cool down and remove substances from the skin and prevent their reabsorption. Liquids are administered, and participants are monitored for signs of dehydration and heat exhaustion.

• Ingestion of cold-pressed oils, to prevent mobilized toxins from being reabsorbed by the intestines. • Vitamin and mineral supplementation.

Hubbard details his method in the book, Clear Body, Clear Mind, in which the Foreword is co-written by Dr. David Root and James Barnes, and in it they recount a handful of case studies that purport to show the effectiveness of detoxification. They highlight the cases of soldiers returning from the first Iraq war treated for Gulf War Syndrome, Vietnam veterans exposed to the chemical "Agent Orange" and Kazakhstan citizens exposed to radiation from the Chernobyl disaster.

Gulf War Syndrome

In an effort to validate their subjective detoxification results while providing relief to the American vets suffering from Gulf War Syndrome, FASE set out to secure funding for a comprehensive research study through the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs (CDMRP). On November 20th, 1998, the team was in Washington, D.C., to make the first of several presentations to members of Congress and other relevant governmental agencies.

In his statement before The Presidential Special Oversight Board For Department of Defense Investigations of Gulf War Chemical & Biological Incidents, Dr. Root testified,

"The challenge for the occupational physician is to provide relief to the injured worker, to rehabilitate him and return him to work. Since 1982, I have been using a detoxification program to treat patients who have been exposed to fat-soluble chemicals, either at work or from environmental sources.

This program, developed by L. Ron Hubbard in 1978, has over the last 15 years been evaluated and used by a growing number of professionals throughout the world who have examined its use in relieving the after effects of chemical exposure and found it to be very effective.

To my knowledge, there is no other peer-reviewed method for reducing the body burden of fat-soluble toxic chemicals. Papers documenting the efficacy of the Hubbard program have been published by such organizations as the World Health Organization, the Royal Swedish Academy of Science, the Society for Occupational and Environmental Health and others."

He goes on to say,

"The Hubbard detoxification program has long been upheld as compensable under state and national workman’s compensation laws. Over the past 16-1/2 years, I have used it to treat approximately 2,500 patients with varying degrees of illness from exposure to toxic chemicals. The program has enabled me to fully rehabilitate many workers with serious exposures, returning them to full employment with little or no residual disability."

Further into his testimony, Root adds,

"This detoxification program is not a cure for cancer. It cannot help patients who suffered structural or anatomic damage to their peripheral or central nervous systems. However, to the extent that symptoms can be ameliorated by reducing the body burden of these fat-soluble toxic chemicals, the program can and does help exposed individuals."

The following year, the FASE team presented at a conference sponsored by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) which then led to an official recommendation by CDC that detoxification be studied as a treatment option for Gulf War veterans. After many years, the team's efforts resulted in a CDMRP grant award, titled Gulf War Illness: Evaluation of an Innovative Detoxification Program in September, 2010.

9/11

As reported in the April 11, 2003, Health Beat section of Fire Engineering magazine, "In October 2001, FASE received calls from rescue workers concerned about the long-term effects of exposures during the WTC operations. Subsequently, representatives of FASE came to New York and met with union representatives and officials responsible for the medical care of the rescue workers. The objective of all parties was to do anything possible to help the rescue workers who were suffering."

The article describes the problem, "Exposures resulting from the WTC disaster are unprecedented. The toxic dust, fume and vapor that arose from the collapsing WTC and subsequent fire contained hundreds of different toxic chemicals, including dioxins, PCBs, asbestos, silica, benzene, polybrominated diphenyl ethers, manganese, chromium, lead, mercury, nickel, oxides of nitrogen and sulfur," according to Dr. James G. Dahlgren, M.D., assistant clinical professor of medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Moreover, he says, "The great force generated by the collapsing towers "created ultra-fine particles of these toxins-smaller than have ever been seen before-making the 'dust' that resulted in many ways more like a gas, rendering the body mechanisms intended to protect the lungs useless."

In January 2002, Thomas Manley, the Health and Safety Officer for the Uniformed Firefighters Association, invited Dr. Root, Keith Miller, and Jim Woodworth, Executive Director of HealthMed and acting director of the IADS, to come to New York to present information on the detoxification program to FDNY medical officers. They later met with local physicians qualified to deliver the program in a clinical setting, and a Project advisory board comprised of authorities in the fields of environmental medicine and public health was established.

By September 2002, the first rescue workers had entered the New York Rescue Workers Detoxification Project and completed the program one month later. Results from the project supporting the benefits of Hubbard's detoxification protocols were published in May, 2009. Another detailed report co-authored by David Root and published in the Townsend Letter is summarized,

"The Hubbard method is the only such treatment being offered to New York rescue workers. The improvements attained in almost 500 cases argue for broader implementation of the program, supported by additional evaluation and research efforts. That a large percentage of those affected by 9/11 exposures are not responding to existing treatments after more than four years; that the opportunity to improve the job fitness of first responders in one of the nation’s most important cities exists; and that the possibility that syndromes being treated as “post traumatic stress” are in fact the result of toxin-induced damage – all this argues strongly for and adds urgency to this initiative."

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In addition to his humanitarian work with FASE, IADS, and other organizations, Dr. David Root continues to serve as the Medical Director and Chairman of Sacramento Occupational Medical Group. He lives in Carmichael, California, with his wife of over 55 years, Mary. Together they have two adult sons, David E. Root, Jr. and Daniel L. Root, who completed the detox program in 1985 and has been involved with the clinic ever since.

Dr. Root has been quoted with this Future Prediction, originally for Scientologists; however, his message speaks to the entire population of planet Earth:

"As we enter a new century, global awareness of our environment – and the human consequences that accompany our dependence on chemicals – is greater than ever. L. Ron Hubbard may be the only person in the twentieth century to offer individuals a practical solution to the devastating aftermath of chemical exposure and drug abuse. The importance of the detoxification program that he developed, and that Scientology churches throughout the world have delivered to hundreds of thousands of individuals, cannot be overestimated. Mr. Hubbard’s program may well be looked back upon as the breakthrough that enabled man to maintain a high quality of life in an increasingly toxic environment."

FASE Detoxification Studies and Projects Involving David E. Root, M.D., M.P.H.

The following list of projects in which Dr. Root had direct involvement is taken from the Foundation for Advancements in Science and Education's website (www.fasenet.org).

• 1987

In cooperation with the University of Ljubljana Medical Society and the Slovenian Science Foundation, FASE researchers examined the benefits of detoxification for a group of Slovenian and Croatian workers with long-term exposure to PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls), electrical coolants long banned in the United States.

• 1991

FASE associates participated with scientists at the Medical Radiological Research Center of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences (in Obninsk, Russia) in a study evaluating the benefits of detoxification for persons whose health was harmed by the Chernobyl disaster. Findings were presented at U.S. EPA conference on post-emergency response to radioactive incidents.

• 1995

FASE helped organize the First International Conference on Chemical Contamination and Human Detoxification in Los Angeles, CA. Case histories from the U.S. and Russia were presented. The conference was one of the first to consider similarities between the toxic impact of environmental chemicals and residues of pharmaceutical and illicit drugs.

• 1997

FASE and FASE Associates organized the Second International Conference on Chemical Contamination and Human Detoxification in Stockholm, Sweden. Scientists from the Medical Radiological Institute of the Russian Academy of Scientists reported on a wide range of findings regarding the benefits of detoxifcation for individuals exposed to radiation as a result of the Chernobyl disaster.

• 1998

Case studies regarding Gulf War veterans whose condition improved following detoxification were presented by FASE associates to a Presidential Oversight Board addressing the problems experienced by Gulf War Veterans.

• 1998

Presentations by FASE Associates at a conference sponsored by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) led to an official recommendation by CDC that detoxification be studied as a treatment option for Gulf War veterans.

• 2002

In partnership with rescue workers, unions and healthcare providers as well as other public sector partners, FASE helped to establish a project in New York City that has provided detoxification services to more than 900 men and women exposed to toxic smoke, dust and gas during the WTC rescue and recovery operations. These services have been provided on a humanitarian basis, at no cost, under the direction of local physicians. The Foundation remains engaged in this work, facilitating scientific meetings and research projects to document the reductions in symptoms and improvements in work fitness that have been accomplished in hundreds of cases.

• 2005

FASE and FASE Associates organized the Third International Conference on Chemical Contamination and Human Detoxification at Hunter College in New York City. Presentations focused on results from detoxification services provided to World Trade Center Rescue and their ramifications for other first responders. A Russian delegation reported on findings of a follow-up study that compared the health of Chernobyl-exposed initividuals who had completed detoxification ten years ago to the health of those who had not done the program.

• 2008

The Foundation provided assistance to the Utah Meth Cops Project, an initiative created with support from the Utah state government to bring relief to police officers suffering the effects of toxic exposures during raids on illegal methamphetamine labs.

• 2011

FASE Associates examined case histories of cleanup workers and others exposed to toxic substances as a result of the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and prepared a summary for presentation at a meeting of environmental and environmental health groups in the region.

• 2014

To further examine and understand growing concerns about toxic exposures on the battlefield, a phenomenon that some have characterized as "chemical wounds," the Foundation created a Veterans Health Project.

EDUCATION

Source: David E. Root, M.D., M.P.H. Curriculum Vitae

Undergraduate Studies

University of Utah, B.S. Degree in Psychology, 1958.

Medical School

Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Bowman Gray Campus, Winston-Salem, NC, M.D. degree 1962.

Internship

USAF Hospital, Wright-Patterson AFB, Dayton, Ohio, 1962-63.

Residency:

• Johns Hopkins University School of Hygiene and Public Health, Master of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, 1970.
• USAF School of Aerospace Medicine, Brooks AFB, Texas, July 1970-February 1972.

LICENSES AND CERTIFICATIONS

Source: David E. Root, M.D., M.P.H. Curriculum Vitae

• Medical license with the State of California, June 17, 1965
• Certified by the American Board of Preventive Medicine in Aerospace Medicine in 1972.
• Certified by the American Board of Preventive Medicine in Occupational Medicine in 1983.
• Certified by the FAA in December 1984 as an Aeromedical Examiner, and in 1987 as a Senior Aeromedical Examiner.
• Certified by the Industrial Medical Council of the State of California as an Independent Medical Examiner, 1991-1993.
• Certified by the Industrial Medical Council of the State of California as a Qualified Medical Evaluator, 1991-2003.
• Certified by the Medical Review Officer Certification Council as a Medical Review Officer in 1993; recertified in 1998, 2003, and 2010 (current).

CAREER

Source: David E. Root, M.D., M.P.H. Curriculum Vitae

• Hospital Commander, USAF Hospital, Takhli, Thailand (1972-73)

Dr. Root managed the military hospital in the later stages of the Vietnam War, and was in charge of the Occupational and Flight Medicine sections. This included responsibility for the Medical Civic Action Program, which involved regular trips into the surrounding Thai villages to provide medical care to the villagers.

• Chief of Occupational Medicine and Deputy Hospital Commander, Beale Air Force Base, Marysville, California (1973-75)

Dr. Root was responsible for the medical operations of the Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird reconnaissance aircraft. This involved providing primary medical care for the aircrews and their families, dealing with many occupational medical problems such as exposure to the special fuels, lubricants, and solvents used in the SR-71, as well as hazardous noise pollution from the jet aircraft. Root also maintained currency in the Northrop T-38 Talon jet trainer in support of the SR-71.

• Senior Medical Office/Pilot, RAF Institute of Aviation Medicine, Farnborough, Hampshire, England (USAF/RAF Exchange Program, 1976-78)

Root had total responsibility for planning and carrying out the RAF medical flight test program at IAM in the Hawker Hunter aircraft. This involved flight testing of helmets, masks, and chemical warfare defense equipment designed to prevent chemical exposure to aircrews. He also carried out in-flight physiological experiments on pulmonary ventilation under high G forces, and many other flight test protocols.

• Chief Aeromedical Medical Advisor to the USAF Life Support System Program Office, Air Force Systems Command, Wright Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio (1978-80)

Advised the Life Support SPO on the medical aspects of new life support equipment such as helmets, oxygen masks, etc. He was responsible for the occupational medicine aspects of missile and aircraft fuels, such as hydrazine, UDMH, JP-4, etc. Root had chemical defense program responsibility as well, and remained fully qualified as an Air Force Senior Pilot, frequently flying the Cessna T-37 Tweet twin-jet trainer. During this period Root was also appointed Associate Professor, Department of Community Medicine, Wright State University, Dayton, Ohio.

• Medical Director and CEO of Sacramento Occupational Medical Group, Sacramento, California (1981 to present)

HONORS

Source: David E. Root, M.D., M.P.H. Curriculum Vitae

• Co-Chair, Third International Conference on Human Detoxification, New York City, NY, September 2005.
• Co-Chair, Second International Conference on Human Detoxification, Stockholm, Sweden, September 1997.
• Presentation to the British House of Lords Select Committee on the Gulf War Syndrome: Detoxification Treatment and Results, May 1997.
• Chair, First International Conference on Human Detoxification, Los Angeles, CA, December 1995.
• Fellow, American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 1987.
• Fellow, Aerospace Medical Association, 1980.
• Fellow, Royal Aeronautical Society, 1978.
• Fellow, American College of Preventive Medicine, 1972.

MILITARY DECORATIONS

Source: David E. Root, M.D., M.P.H. Curriculum Vitae

• USAF

Legion of Merit Medal

Bronze Star Medal

Meritorious Service Medal W/Dev

Commendation Medal

National Defense Service Medal

Small Arms Expert Marksmanship Ribbon

Air Force Longevity Service Award W/4Dev

Outstanding Unit Award

• Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross W/Dev

Vietnam Service Medal

Vietnam Campaign Medal

• Royal Air Force Queen's Commendation for Valuable Service in the Air, 1978.

ORGANIZATIONS & AFFILIATIONS

Source: David E. Root, M.D., M.P.H. Curriculum Vitae

• Associate Clinical Professor, Department of Community Medicine, Wright State University School of Medicine, Dayton, Ohio, December 1978-1981
• Vice-Chairman and Chairman-Elect, Associate Fellows Group, Aerospace Medical Association, 1979-1980
• Chapter Councilor, Phi Rho Sigma Medical Society, Wright State University, Dayton, Ohio, 1979-1981
• Member, Program and Membership Committees of the Aerospace Medical Association, 1978-1981
• Member, American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine
• Member, Order of Daedalians.
• Member, Phi Delta Fraternity.
• Member, Sacramento Rotary Club.
• Member, Sacramento/El Dorado County Medical Society Environmental Health Committee, October 1983 to 2009.
• Member, Western Occupational and Environmental Medical Association.
• Senior Associate, Foundation for Advancements in Science and Education, 1983-present.
• Senior Member, Scientific Advisory Board, Foundation for Advancements in Science and Education, 1994-present.
• Senior Member, Joint Ad Hoc Medical Society Task Force on Employment and Disability under the State Department of Rehabilitation, 1987-1991.
• Chairman, Scientific Advisory Board, Narconon International, 1995 to 2005.
• Elected and Ordained Elder, Carmichael Presbyterian Church, February 1996.

PUBLICATIONS & PRESENTATIONS

Source: David E. Root, M.D., M.P.H. Curriculum Vitae

”Closed Ecological Systems Suitable for Space Flight”, Research & Reviews, 1962. The Bowman Gray School of Medicine, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, NC.

“Inspiratory Flow and Pulmonary Ventilation in Mock Air Combat”, paper presented – Aerospace Medical Association Meeting, 1977.

“Pressure Breathing for G Pretesting”, presented – Aerospace Medical Association Meeting, 1978. Chaired one scientific session.

“New Directions in the Design of USAF Aircraft Oxygen Systems and Components”, presented – Aerospace Medical Association Meeting, 1979.

“Advanced Aircraft Oxygen Systems”, presented – semi-annual SAFE Association meeting, April 1979.

“A Survival Avionics System for the 1980s”, paper presented – Aerospace Medical Association Scientific Meeting, Anaheim, California, May 1980.

“Hazards of Environmental Exposure and Chemical Detoxification Treatment”, presented – California State Occupational Safety & Health Adm. inspectors of Northern California, Sacramento, CA, 1984.

“Diagnosis and Treatment of Patients Presenting Subclinical Signs and Symptoms of Exposure to Chemicals which Bioaccumulate in Human Tissue”, presented – National Conference on Hazardous Wastes and Environmental Emergencies and sponsored by Hazardous Materials Control Research Institute and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, May 1985.

“Reducing Toxic Body Burdens Advancing an Innovative Technique”, Root, D., Anderson, J., Occupational Health and Safety, Vol. 11, No. 4, 1986.

“Radon Gas: Review of Current Studies on Household Detection and Health Effects”, presented – Environment Health Committee of the Sacramento/El Dorado County Medical Society, October 15, 1986.

“Excretion of a Lipophilic Toxicant Through the Sebaceous Glands: A Case Report”, Root, D., Lionelli, G., Journal Toxicol – Cut. & Ocular Toxicol, 6(1), 13-17, 1987.

“Responses to Environmental Exposures”, presented – Roseville Hospital nursing staff as part of a continuing education program, April 29, 1988.

“Occupational Toxins”, presented – Auburn Faith Hospital medical staff members as part of a continuing education program, September 6, 1988.

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