Former New York health commissioner and current CDC chief Dr. Thomas Frieden plans to continue on a national stage the battle against smoking that he waged in New York. ACSH staffers are concerned about how he plans to approach the smoking issue. If he s going to make it a top priority to get people off cigarettes, we can t object to that, says ACSH's Dr. Elizabeth Whelan, but we hope he goes about it in the right way.
ACSH's Jeff Stier hopes this is not a repeat of highly successful yet highly dubious tactics already used: If he does what he did in New York, he s going to use junk science, exaggerate the effects of secondhand smoke, and hide behind the excuse that the end justifies the means. This strategy would harm the credibility of CDC. Frieden also neglected to acknowledge smokeless tobacco as a means of cessation in favor of less effective methods.
ACSH staffers hope that honest, effective smoking education and help is on the horizon but remain skeptical of Frieden s record. Dr. Whelan reflects: Let s just hope he doesn t go off on wrongheaded tangents about trans fats and sugared sodas like he did in New York.
