Dead Doctors Don’t Lie

The term, Dead Doctors Don’t Lie, came about one night as Dr Wallach was presenting a public health lecture in Coconut Grove, Florida. Here’s the story behind what has become a trademark battle cry for Dr Wallach and his message:

One of the things Dr Wallach started talking about in his presentations was the average life span of medical doctors. Numerous studies (including The Journal of the American Medical Association itself ) have shown and continue to show that medical doctors die on average significantly sooner than most other people. One might argue that it’s because of stress, their workload, or a number of different reasons, an argument Dr Wallach discusses in his book ‘Dead Doctors Don’t Lie’ on page 184.  Dr Wallach claims it’s because doctors receive so little if any training regarding nutrition and what it really takes to be well. They don’t know any different, other than the drugs and surgery model they prescribe for their patients.

During the question and answer session that night in Florida after one of Dr Wallach’s presentation’s,  an irate attendee asked, “I came here for nutritional information. Just what is the purpose of the doctor obituaries at a nutrition seminar?” In answer to his question, Dr Wallach blurted out-

“Because Dead Doctors Don’t Lie!”

That night, a slogan, a label was born that struck a nerve.  It would become the theme that resonated with the public and represented Dr Wallach’s frustration for so many years as his discoveries regarding cystic fibrosis, and the importance the 90 essential nutrients played in the health of all living beings were dismissed and ignored by the medical community and those who worshipped them.