Tobacco Documents Online

I<RITDU:-~96-6355 U. S. I~P~RT~-W2 OF Public Heal~h S~rvice ~ashington 25, D. C. FOR RELEASE Noon, November ii, 1962 A tvo-day meeting of the newly formed Surgeon General's Advisory Committee on Smoking and Health ended Saturday afternoon (N~mb~r IO) with a firm agreement on how the i0 members would review and study nature and magnitude of the possible health hazard of tobacco smoking, the Public Health Service announced today. Surgecm General Luther L. Terry chaired the Frld~y meet~.ng and Dr. James M. Hundley, Assistant Surgeon General for Plans, served as chairman on the concluding day. The Cum~ittee members agreed to begin immediately an extensive revi~¢ of the scientific literature and basic studies on all aspects of the use ~f tobacco and smoking habits, as ~ell as possible contributing factors such as air pollution, industrial exposure, rad/ation and alcohol. Dr. Terry said th8t because of the cunplexity of the study, it %'ill be six to eight months before the C~:~ittee can be expected to complete review of all rele-~ant data, correlate the findings, and cuze up with a flmal report. A series of subccmmlttee meetings rill be necessary before the Ccmmittee as a whole can meet ags~n.

-2- "When this report is issued," Dr. Terry said, "I expect it to be the most c~Ixrehenslvm ever to be produced on the subject cf smoking and He said the report will include not only data on the smoking habits of Americans and possible effects on their health, but vi]_l contain Infcrma- ties frcm significant reports issued by oCher nations. Ccmx~ittee members present: Dr. Stanhope Bayne-Jones, Washington~ D.C.; Dr. Walter Burdmtte, Head, Department of Surgery, School of Medicine, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah; Dr. WiLliam G. Cochran, Professor of Statistics, Harvard Univmrslty, Cambridge, Massachusetts; ~r. Jacob Furth, Department of Pathology, Col~mbia Umiversity, New York, New York; Dr. John Hickam, Chairman, Depertment of Internal Medicine, Medical School, University of Indiana, Indianapolis, Indiana; Dr. Charles LeMaistre, Professor of Medicine, Seuth~stern Medical College, Dellas, Tex~s; Dr. Emmanuel Farber, Chairman, Department of Pathology, School of ~diclme, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, l~nnsylvania; Dr. Louis F. Fieser, Sheldon Emery Professor of Organic Chemistry, Harvard Univmrsity; Dr. Leonard M. Schuman, Professor of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota; Dr. Maurice. H. Seevers, Chairman, Department of Pharmacology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Principal participating Public Health Service staff members: Dr. James M. Hundley, Assistant Surgeon General for Plans; Dr. P~ter V. V. Hand]l, Cc~mittee Staff Medical Coordinator; Mr. Benjamin E. Carroll, Biostatistician; Dr. Howard B. Andervont, National Cancer Institute; Dr. Paul KoCin, National Cancer Institute; Dr. J. Lloyd Elliott, Bureau of Medical Services; Dr. Eugene H. Guthrie, Division of Chronic Diseases, Bureau of State Service's; Dr. William Butler, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases; Dr. Richard A. Prindle, Division of Air Pollution, Bureau of State Services; Mr. Arthur McD~weil, Nationsl Center for Health Statistics; Dr. Harold Dorn, N~tional Heart Institute, and Mr. Charles Roos, National Library of Medicine. Observers fr~ other agencies: Dr. Kenneth Cl~rk, Dean, School of Arts and Sciences, University of Colorado, representing the Office of Science and Technology, Executive Office of the President; Dr. George Dobbs, Associate Chief, Division of Scientific Opinions, Federal Trade Cc~mission; Dr. Heward Weinsteln, Director, Division of Medical Re~lew, Food and Drug Administration; Mr. Claude G. Turner, Director, Tobacco Division, Department of Agriculture; Dr. M. B. Wallenstein, Chief, Division of Physical Chemistry, National Bureau of Standards, Department of Cc~merce.