The Ethanol Papers - Paperturn manuscript - Flipbook - Page 445
It's Time To Rethink The Value Of PhD
Distrusting the "other" doctors’ advice on engine fuels
Originally published September 12, 2016
About a century ago, the tobacco industry responded to growing health concerns by using medical doctors in their advertising to promote smoking. Executives at tobacco companies duped the public by relying on the near-universal
trust in physicians to keep the world addicted to their poison. The outcome was
three decades of pseudo-medical research and MD endorsements to pretend
that cigarettes were not harmful.
Tobacco advertising that promoted doctor-endorsements appeared in all consumer media as well as leading medical publications like "The New England
Journal of Medicine" and "The Journal of the American Medical Association."
According to Robert K. Jackler, MD, Sewall Professor and Chair, otolaryngology - head and neck surgery at Stanford University Medical Center, "Cigarette
companies also wanted doctors to smoke their brands."* To this end, tobacco
companies participated in medical conventions by sponsoring doctors' lounges
and giving away free cigarettes. At least one cigarette manufacturer created an
internal Medical Relations Division to find medical personnel that could substantiate their illogical advertising claims. In the case of RJ Reynolds, their Medical Relations Division was housed in the offices of their advertising agency.
