Day 035 - 12 Oct 94 - Page 25
1 A. I beg your pardon, could you please repeat the
2 question?
3
4 Q. Do you know any sensible suggestion that the Surgeon
5 General is in the pocket of the American food industry?
6 A. If by "in the pocket" you mean "influenced by",
7 I would say, yes.
8
9 Q. In what sense?
10 A. Well, the American government is quite commonly and
11 quite heavily lobbied by food producers, both food
12 producers and retailers. I am not suggesting the Surgeon
13 General is controlled by them or is entirely controlled by
14 the food industry, but they are certainly influenced by
15 them, I regret to say.
16
17 Q. Does it follow from that, if there is anything in this
18 book which does not accord with your thesis, that is
19 because the American government has lent on the Surgeon
20 General so as to oblige the food industry, whereas you
21 will take from it what does support your theory; is that
22 right?
23
24 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Can I ask a question about that? We have
25 what might be, for all I know, a similar figure in this
26 country which is the Chief Medical Officer of the
27 Department of Health. He is a civil servant but not
28 necessarily a lifelong one. He may be brought in from
29 medical practice when he is already quite senior in years
30 and status. But his position is not going to be changed.
31 If our government changed, for instance, from a
32 conservative one to a labour one he would remain the Chief
33 Medical Officer in all normal circumstances.
34 A. Yes.
35
36 Q. How does the Surgeon General compare with that position?
37 A. The Surgeon General is more likely to change office
38 when the president -- when the party of the president
39 changes. Let me say, I have no desire to say anything bad
40 about C. Everett Koop. I think he did an excellent job in
41 many areas. I have to say, however, that I attended a
42 lecture at the American Meat Institute Convention, which
43 was quite professionally done, and C. Everett Koop was the
44 invited speaker.
45
46 I have been concerned for a long time that nutrition
47 authorities and health authorities are influenced by the
48 meat industry and the dairy industry which are very, very
49 strong in the United States. The dairy industry itself
50 has managed to gain direct government support to the
51 degree of $500 million to $2.5 billion per year simply to
52 buy up surplus products that they produce, and it is no
53 less embarrassing that the tobacco industry has gotten a
54 number of favours along the same lines, although perhaps
55 not as generous, and the meat industry does as well.
56 Having said that, in spite of those difficulties, I think
57 American health authorities have been able to say some
58 rather sensible things at times, which is perhaps
59 remarkable given the constraints they may operate under.
60
