These statements may not be breaking news for oncologists and other physicians, who should have been aware of the lethal nature of cigarette smoking at least since the publication of the first Surgeon General’s report on Smoking and Health more than half a century ago. While the report generated front page headlines and led the network newscasts back in January 1964, the tobacco epidemic has continued, causing more than 20 million deaths in the U.S. in the decades since. Cigarette companies have persisted in using their legal, marketing, and propaganda tools to mislead and addict millions of consumers, including underage youth, for the sole purpose of increasing profits.
At the end of her first day on the job as CEO of The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute, W. Kimryn Rathmell reflected on her decision to take the CEO job at the third largest cancer hospital in the United States.
