[12] People in sepsis may have micronutrient deficiencies, including low levels of vitamin C.[13] Reviews mention that an intake of 3.0 g/day via intravenous administration may needed to maintain normal plasma concentrations.

[14][15] Sepsis mortality is reduced with administration of intravenous vitamin C.[16] Ascorbic acid operates as an anti-oxidant and essential enzyme cofactor in the human body.

Over the course of the 1970s, Pauling would begin a long-term collaboration with fellow physician, Ewan Cameron, on the medical potential of intravenous ascorbate acid as cancer therapy in terminally ill patients.

"[25] Subsequent studies by Pauling and Cameron hypothesised that ascorbic acid's role in enhanced collagen production would lead to the encapsulation of tumours and thus, protect normal tissue from metastasis.

[26] Following these findings, Pauling became a strong advocate for vitamin megadosing and continued to investigate the medicinal potential of intravenous ascorbic acid across a range of illnesses, including: HIV transmission, the common cold, atherosclerosis, and angina pectoris.

[19] The experimental design of Pauling and Cameron's 1976 publication, "Supplemental ascorbate in the supportive treatment of cancer",[25] had garnered considerable criticism as it was neither randomised nor placebo controlled.

To test the validity of Pauling and Cameron's findings, the Mayo Clinic conducted three independent experiments in 1979, 1983 and 1985, whereby terminal cancer patients were given doses of oral ascorbic acid under randomised, double bind and placebo-controlled conditions.

The use of high-dosage intravenous ascorbic acid as a cancer treatment was first promoted by Linus Pauling and Ewan Cameron in the 1970s;[25][26] however, these findings were not reproduced using oral administration by subsequent Mayo Clinic studies in the 1980s.

[35][36] These findings demonstrated ascorbic acid's pro-oxidant capabilities to produce hydrogen peroxide and thus, proposed a possible pharmacological mechanism of action against cancer cells.