Hugh Desaix Riordan, M.D., Wichita, Kansas, USA, was named the Outstanding Orthomolecular Physician of the Year at the annual meeting of The International Society For Orthomolecular Medicine (ISOM). Dr. Riordan also accepted an award for World Leadership in Orthomolecular Medicine, presented to The Center for the Improvement of Human Functioning International, Inc. The Center's Wichita facility, which is known as The Bright Spot for Health, received the award for "its 27 years of outstanding work in the field of Orthomolecular based clinical, educational and research service to the benefit of humankind." Dr. Riordan is president of the Wichita health organization.

Orthomolecular medicine is based upon the use, whenever possible, of optimal amounts of substance that ordinarily occur within the human body. The word ortho means straight or correct. Orthomolecular implies the correction of an individual's biochemistry at the molecular level. The term Orthomolecular was first coined by Linus Pauling, a two-time Nobel Prize winner.

According ISOM, those who practice Orthomolecular medicine have learned that providing the correct molecules of substances that ordinarily occur in the human body can improve the health of many people who are experiencing sustained illnesses.