Ken Walker (physician)
Ken Walker | |
---|---|
Born | Kenneth Francis Walker 28 February 1924 Croydon, England, United Kingdom |
Nationality | British Canadian |
Other names | W. Gifford-Jones (pen name) |
Education | Harvard Medical School |
Occupation(s) | Medical writer, celebrity doctor |
Spouse | Susan (m. 1956) |
Children | 4 |
Medical career | |
Sub-specialties | Obstetrician, gynaecologist |
Kenneth Francis Walker (born 28 February 1924) is a British-born Canadian medical writer, celebrity doctor,[1] and retired obstetrician and gynecologist. As an author and columnist he publishes under the pen name W. Gifford-Jones, M.D..[2]
Background
Walker was born in 1924 in Croydon, England. His family moved to Canada when he was 4, settling in Niagara Falls, Ontario.[3]
Walker earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Toronto and graduated from Harvard Medical School in 1950.[4]
Author and columnist
He adopted the Gifford-Jones pseudonym when he wrote his first book in 1961, Hysterectomy: A Book for the Patient, due to the
The column appeared in the Globe and Mail until 1989 when it moved to the Toronto Sun. At its peak it was syndicated to over 85 newspapers in Canada, 300 newspapers in the United States, including the Chicago Sun-Times, and newspapers in Europe. He has also written nine books, has been a senior editor of Canadian Doctor magazine, and was a regular contributor to Fifty Plus magazine.[5][2]
The
The weekly column continues to be published online and in smaller newspapers such as the
Campaigns and advocacy
While practicing in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Walker was an advocate of women's right to choose abortion and was an abortion practitioner in the area after the procedure became legal in 1969, resulting in death threats from abortion opponents.[2]
In 1979, he began campaigning for the legalization of
Walker has also advocated the right to assisted suicide and euthanasia and is a member of the physicians advisory council of Dying with Dignity Canada.[13]
Controversies
At age 73, Walker suffered a serious heart attack, and soon after had a triple bypass. He rejected the recommended statin therapy and recalling an interview he had with Linus Pauling advocating Vitamin C megadosage, began a regimen of 10 grams of Vitamin C, and 5 grams of the amino acid lysine, which he claimed saved his life.[14] Walker's advocacy of a combination of large dosages of Vitamin C and lysine to prevent or reverse coronary disease and his questioning of the use of statins has been criticized by medical professionals and also led to accusations that Walker's advocacy of this and other alternative treatments puts him in a conflict of interest as he sells vitamin supplements online, including a product that combines Vitamin C and lysine. Dr. Raphael Cheung, an endocrinologist at Windsor Regional Hospital, wrote in an op-ed response to Walker's advice that: “Dr. Gifford-Jones’ anecdotal experience belongs to medicine that was practiced half a century ago!” adding "Why does [the Windsor Star] keep printing articles written by a retired OB-GYN regarding vascular health? Not knowing any better, there are patients who are at high risk for heart disease and stroke in our community who have stopped taking their medications after reading Gifford-Jones articles." Cheung also stated that he was surprised when a patient with coronary heart disease told him that he had stopped his heart medications and "had started taking Dr. Gifford-Jones’s Medi-C Plus treatment purchased online.”[15]
In 1986, Walker participated in a "fact finding" tour of
In 2018, the Toronto Sun pulled a Gifford-Jones column from its website following an outcry over its urging readers to consider "both sides of the vaccine debate". Sun editor Adrienne Batra said it was removed from the newspaper's website after medical professionals pointed out inaccuracies in the column.[17] By 2021, Gifford-Jones was taking a stronger position in favor of vaccination writing "I have never been against vaccination and proven science" and in regards towards COVID-19 vaccines "the risk is so, so minimal versus the risk of dying unvaccinated".[18]
Later life
After spending much of his life in Niagara Falls, Walker and his wife moved to Toronto's Harbourfront neighbourhood where they celebrated their 60th anniversary in 2016.[19][2] Walker retired from his practice at the age of 87. As of 2024, the couple live in a retirement home in Toronto.[20]
He turned
Bibliography
- 90+ How I Got There! by W. Gifford-Jones, M.D., 2015
- What I Learned as a Medical Journalist: a collection of columns by W. Gifford-Jones, M.D., 2013
- You’re Going to do What?: The Memoir of Dr. W. Gifford-Jones by W. Gifford-Jones, M.D., 2000, ECW Press
- The Healthy Barmaid by W. Gifford-Jones, M.D., 1995, ECW Press
- Medical Survival by W. Gifford-Jones, M.D., 1985, Methuen
- What Every Woman Should Know About Hysterectomy by W. Gifford-Jones, M.D., 1977, Funk & Wagnalls, New York
- The Doctor Game by W. Gifford-Jones, M.D., 1975, McClelland & Stewart
- On Being A Woman – The Modern Woman’s Guide to Gynecology by W. Gifford-Jones, M.D., 1969, Book-of-the-Month Clubselection (Canada and U.S.)
- Hysterectomy? - A Book for the Patient by W. Gifford-Jones, M.D., 1961, University of Toronto Press
References
- ^ S2CID 80421909. Retrieved October 22, 2020.
- ^ a b c d "Keeping up with Dr. W. Gifford-Jones". Montreal Gazette. October 23, 2017. Retrieved October 22, 2020.
- ^ a b c "A columnist's radical medicine; Gifford-Jones's autobiography recounts battles over views on abortion, heroin use", by Valerie Hill, Kitchener-Waterloo Record, 1 December 2000 (retrieved via Factiva)
- ^ "Walker, Kenneth Francis". CPSO. College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario. Retrieved October 22, 2020.
- ^ Cross, Brian (October 13, 2015). "Dr. Gifford-Jones has 'never been a fence sitter". Windsor Star. Retrieved October 22, 2020.
- ^ "Farewell Sun readers". Toronto Sun. December 28, 2019. Retrieved May 29, 2022.
- ^ "Starting week with 100th trip around the sun". 4 March 2023.
- ^ "The Doctor Game: Why wouldn't you take care of your heart?". 21 February 2022.
- ^ "Is Cholesterol the Enemy?". 19 April 2022.
- ^ "W. Gifford-Jones, MD and Diana Gifford-Jones, Author at Kingsville Times". 29 February 2024.
- ^ Richert, Lucas (July 26, 2017). "Cancer controversies and traditional medicines". Regina Leader-Post. Retrieved October 22, 2020.
- ^ "Who Is W. Gifford-Jones, MD". W. Gifford-Jones, MD. Kenneth Francis Walker. Retrieved April 26, 2024.
- ^ "Dr. Ken Walker (a.k.a. Dr. Gifford Jones)". Dying with Dignity Canada. Retrieved October 22, 2020.
- ^ "Dr. Gifford-Jones' Second Opinion on Heart Disease: Vitamin C & Lysine Supplements - Seminar Series". YouTube.
- ^ "As the old sayings goes: Buyer beware" by Dr. Raphael Cheung (guest columnist), Windsor Star, December 31, 2013.
- ^ "Taking Sides" (PDF). Southern Africa Report (pg 1-2). Vol. 2, no. 4. Toronto Committee for the Liberation of Southern Africa. February 1987. Retrieved October 22, 2020.
- ^ Burns, Adam. "Toronto Sun newspaper pulls column skeptical of vaccines after backlash". National Post. Canadian Press. Retrieved October 29, 2018.
- ^ "The Case for Vaccination is Clear".
- ^ "Dr. Gifford-Jones celebrates 60 years of marriage". The Bulletin. March 3, 2017. Retrieved April 26, 2024.
- ^ a b Connor, Kevin (February 25, 2024). "Former Toronto Sun columnist Dr. W. Gifford-Jones to turn 100". Toronto Sun. Retrieved April 26, 2024.
- ^ "Prolific medical columnist Dr. W. Gifford-Jones turns 100". Niagara Falls Review. April 26, 2024. Retrieved February 27, 2024.
External links
- W. Gifford-Jones, MD website