Tobacco Documents Online

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Abstract

In this letter from William Kloepfer (Senior Vice President of the Tobacco Institute) to Ernest Pepples (VP and General Counsel for Brown & Williamson), Kloepfer claims that, contrary to claims that smokers cost the country in lost productivity, absenteeism and increased medical care, actuarial data on smoking will actually show that smokers' deaths actually "saves us [the U.S.] substantial sums in care and support for the elderly and retired population."

Kloepfer continues, "Certainly this approach opens the way to charges of cynicism. But cold mathematics can, I think, reduce our vulnerability to that..."

Fields

Quotes

October 31, 1978

Ernest Pepples, Esq. Vice President and General Counsel Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corp. 1600 West Hill Street Louisville, KY 40201 Dear Ernie:

The enclosed current GASP statement, "Hire a Nonsmoker", provides a somewhat convenient list of asserted social costs which could be worked against.

...Further on the matter of social costs, I think any study should contemplate a "worst case" analysis with respect to the health aspects. We know the adversary builds his case this way, and even though it is entirely hypothetical he may be faulted for relatively unsophisticated analysis which, if performed, would cut sharply into the magnitude of his case.

On October 26, Joe Califano gave a speech to The Institute of Medicine at the National Academy of Sciences, in which he remarked that 40 million Americans, most of them with low incomes, had inadequate health insurance or none an all. Given the demographics of smoking, even in a "worst case" analysis I suspect that claims about insurance costs are not even well based on the adversary's hypotheses.

I also think that no "worst case" study can be shy about the subject os social security costs. The adversary claims smoking reduces lifespan by eight years. Obviously he can be hoisted on that petard with a demonstration that by his standards, wrong as they may be, smoking saves us substantial sums in care and support for the elderly and retired population.

Certainly this approach opens the way to charges of cynicism. But cold mathematics can, I think, reduce our vulnerability to that. And I'll bet that careful research done by persons who know their way through the labyrinths of demographics, actuarial and health cost data will turn up some things surprising to all of us.

Cordially,

William Kloepfer, Jr.

Company

Brown & Williamson

Author

Kloepfer, William J., Jr. (TI Public Affairs VP, c. 1988)

Senior Vice President of Public Affairs Relations for the Tobacco Institute

Recipient

Pepples, Ernest, J.D. (BW General Counsel and Sr. VP)

Region

United States

Type

LETT, LETTER

CORRESPONDENCE

Litigation

10004026

Named Person

Califano, Joseph Anthony, Jr. (Sec. of U.S. Dept. of Health, Education, and Welfare)

Joseph Califano Jr. is the former secretary of Health, Education and Welfare (1977-1979), in Carter's administration (A 5/17/94; WP 4/3/85). He spoke against the tobacco industry on ABC's "Day One" program. He testified before the Waxman subcommittee on 5/17/94. He was an adviser to President Lyndon B. Johnson (AP 5/17/94). He was President of Columbia University's Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse, circa 1994 (AP 5/17/94).

Hadden, R.

Operation/Project

Social Costs/Social Values Project (Develop of argumentation against the social costs issue)

Named Organization

International Committee on Smoking Issues (ICOSI)

Was formed to address and reverse the global decline in social acceptability of smoking occurring in the 1970s Consisted of the major tobacco manufacturers worldwide, was created to deal with the global decline in social acceptability of smoking. ICOSI was created

National Academy of Sciences

Subject

social cost

health care cost