In 1856, just 16 years after its discovery (by homeopath Joseph Lloyd Martin), ozone was first used in a health care setting to disinfect operating rooms and sterilize surgical instruments. This surgical application has recently been rediscovered. By the end of the 19th Century the use of ozone to disinfect drinking water of bacteria and viruses was well established in mainland Europe.
The earliest record of therapeutic use of ozone in an English language medical journal is in 1885 titled 'Ozone' by Charles J. Kenworthy, M. D., M.R.S.V. from Jacksonville USA, published by the Florida Medical Association. Today Florida is where the prohibition of ozone therapy is most rigorously enforced, while a short distance away in Cuba medical ozone is liberally researched and used, with ozone generators in every hospital.
In 1892 The Lancet published an article describing the administration of ozone for treatment of tuberculosis. In 1902 they published another article claiming success in treating chronic middle ear deafness with ozone
During the first world war (1914-18) Doctors by then familiar with ozone's anti bacterial properties, and with few other medical resources available to them applied it topically to infected wounds and discovered ozone not only remedied infection, but also had hemodynamic and anti inflammatory properties. In The Lancet of 1916, the following is reported by Major George Stoker, MRCS: