Chapter 16: Of Dragonslayers and Pond Scum Summary

The Reagan era ushered in a time of government non-interference with business. The FTC was reworked in a less activist image. The new chairman stated, "If people want to smoke, that's their business." A revised cigarette-warning bill was stalled. The Surgeon General was the lone anti-smoking voice to forcefully speak out against the health issues with tobacco. He was a virulent health advocate and he decried tobacco's "sleazy" tactics as denial of the health links. By the time of his first report in 1982, it could be conclusively shown that of the 21 percent of U.S. deaths due to cancer, 30 percent of those were linked to smoking - over 100,000 deaths a year. The air pollution link to lung cancer was also mostly debunked. Koop infuriated the tobacco industry by speaking of a "smoke-free society...