In 1936, in France, Dr P. Aubourg proposed to use the insufflation of oxygen-ozone into the rectum to treat chronic colitis and fistulae. How could ozone be administered for internal use? It seems that Dr. Payr was the first to inject gas with a small glass syringe directly into the vein but he was very careful in slowly delivering a small volume of gas.

Unfortunately this route was later on adopted by charlatans and technicians without any medical qualification who, by injecting large volume (up to 500 ml in two hours) have often caused lung embolism mostly due to oxygen and even death. Although this practice has been prohibited since 1984, quacks still uses in third-world countries and certainly it represents one good reason for prohibiting all at once the use of ozone. In most States of USA, the FDA has forbidden the use of ozone and this fact has negatively influenced a correct development of ozonetherapy, that, however, is more or less tolerated in other parts of the world. It is regretful that brilliant pioneers as Fisch, Payr, Aubourg and Dr. H. Wolff (1927-1980), the inventor of ozonated autohemotherapy, have been betrayed by a horde of unscrupoulous and false doctors. If that was not enough, another serious obstacle has been created in the USA by the ruling dogma that “ozone is always toxic any way you deal with it “. This was the phrase that one of the best ozone chemists wrote me in 1995. Although I tried to discuss with him showing our data contradicting his dogmatic assertion, he has preferred not to discuss further this issue. When, on June 2002, I sent him my book that critically examined ozone therapy, only his secretary, after a second request, briefly informed me that he had received the book! In the medical field, history has repeatedly shown that not all dogmas are tenable and the one on ozone stands up mostly on the basis of prejudice, medical incompetence and previous bad work. While I fully agree with the experts that ozone is one of the strongest oxidants and an intrinsically toxic molecule, on the basis of our biological and clinical data, I am sure that ozone, if used in judicious dosages, can be tamed by the potent antioxidant system present in cells and biological fluids. Obviously, during an inflammatory process, an excessive, continuous and localized release of ozone can be detrimental whereas, depending upon a minimal concentration, short time of exposure and biological location, thenow famous three gaseous molecules: CO, NO and O3 can act as crucial physiological activators.

Ozone is a natural, highly reactive, gaseous molecule produced by an electric discharge or/and UV radiation, alone or with NOx. Remarkably, even activated leukocytes seem to generate ozone in vivo. It can be protective or offensive depending upon its concentration and location. Ozone should never be inhaled because the RTLFs have, in comparison to blood, a negligible protective capacity.Today, the use of ozone for industrial applications and water disinfection has received a wide consensus while its use in medicine remains controversial because medical scientists and clinicians remain sceptical and do not want to learn and understand the usefulness of ozone. Ozone must be produced using medical oxygen with a reliable, atoxic generator that allows the measurements of precise ozone concentrations (1- 100 mcg/ml) by mean of a photometer often controlled by iodometric titration.