Surgeon general who fought tobacco dies at 87
Source: AP
LOS ANGELES (AP) Dr. Jesse Steinfeld, who became the first surgeon general ever forced out of office by the president after he campaigned hard against smoking during the Richard Nixon era, died Tuesday. He was 87.
Steinfeld died Tuesday morning in a nursing home in suburban Pomona following a stroke he suffered about a month ago, said his daughter, Susan Steinfeld of La Canada Flintridge.
"He laid the groundwork for us to be better people and make the world a better place," she said by telephone.
Steinfeld was a cancer researcher and taught at the University of Southern California medical school before serving as Nixon's surgeon general from 1969-1973.
Read more: http://www.seattlepi.com/news/medical/article/Surgeon-general-who-fought-tobacco-dies-at-87-5671209.php
proverbialwisdom
(4,959 posts)Dr. Jesse Steinfeld dies at 87; fought tobacco use as surgeon general
By THOMAS H. MAUGH II
SHARELINES: (via Twitter and Facebook)
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Three U.S. surgeons general have played the biggest roles in alerting the public to the dangers of tobacco.
In 1964, Dr. Luther Terry issued the first Surgeon General's Report on Smoking and Health, irrefutably linking smoking with lung disease and other illnesses. The report led to a sharp drop in smoking and to the first warning labels on cigarette packages.
Seven years later, Dr. Jesse L. Steinfeld issued a second report focused on the dangers of secondhand smoke. He proposed what he called the Non-Smoker's Bill of Rights, which said that the country must free non-smokers from the hazards and annoyance of other people's addictions. He strengthened the warning on packages and issued the first ban on smoking in certain government buildings.
In the 1980s, Dr. C. Everett Koop accelerated the war against tobacco, producing the first ban on smoking in airplanes.
The tobacco industry considered Steinfeld's actions so egregious that he was labeled the "worst surgeon general ever." The industry lobbied vigorously for his removal and he became the first surgeon general ever forced out by the president.
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Amazing heroism.
iandhr
(6,852 posts)but from this obituary he seemed like a man of great courage.