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Title: Former Surgeon General C. Everett Koop dies at age 96
Source:
CNN
URL Source: http://www.cnn.com/2013/02/25/health/c-everett-koop-dead/
Published: Feb 25, 2013
Author: Dana Ford
Post Date: 2013-02-25 23:15:08 by A K A Stone
Keywords: None
Views: 3815
Comments: 9
(CNN) -- Former U.S. Surgeon General C. Everett Koop, a pediatric surgeon turned public health advocate, died Monday. He was 96. Koop served as surgeon general from 1982 to 1989, under Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush. He was outspoken on controversial public health issues and did much to raise the profile the office of the surgeon general. He died peacefully at his home in Hanover, New Hampshire, Dartmouth College said in a news release announcing his death. "Dr. Koop did more than take care of his individual patients -- he taught all of us about critical health issues that affect our larger society," said Dartmouth President Carol L. Folt. "Through that knowledge, he empowered each of us to improve our own well-being and quality of life. Dr. Koop's commitment to education allowed him to do something most physicians can only dream of: improving the health of millions of people worldwide." Koop, called "Chick" by his friends, was perhaps best known for his work around HIV/AIDS. He wrote a brochure about the disease that was sent to 107 million households in the United States in 1988. It was the largest public health mailing ever, according to a biography of Koop on a website of the surgeon general. He was also well-known for his work around tobacco, calling for a "smoke-free" society. His 1986 surgeon general's report on the dangers of secondhand smoke was seminal. "That was the shot heard around the world, and it began to change public policy everywhere," said John Seffrin, chief executive officer of the American Cancer Society. The report started the move toward prohibiting smoking on airplanes, restaurants and at workplaces. "The legacy of C. Everett Koop is how a wonderful, famous pediatric surgeon, who'd already made a name for himself, was willing at a relatively advanced age to do public service and show bold leadership that would have dramatic impact and change the world," Seffrin said. Prior to his tenure as surgeon general, Koop was surgeon-in-chief at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia from 1946 to 1981, where he was a leader in pediatric surgery and helped to establish the country's first neonatal intensive care nursery. "The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia will be forever indebted to Dr. Koop for the imprint he left upon the institution and upon all of pediatric healthcare," the hospital said in a statement. "A pioneer in the field of pediatric surgery, Dr. Koop's contributions include advances in complex surgical procedures, such as the separation of conjoined twins, establishment of the nation's first newborn surgical intensive care unit and the implementation of Children's Hospital's surgical fellowship training program." He was also the founding editor-in-chief of the Journal of Pediatric Surgery, Dartmouth said. Koop was born in Brooklyn, New York, and attended Dartmouth, Weill Cornell Medical College and the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. He was the author of more than 200 articles and books and the recipient of various awards. In 1991, Koop won an Emmy for a five-part series on health care reform, Dartmouth said. He was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1995. Known for wearing bow ties, suspenders and having a clipped beard, Koop is survived by his wife, three children and eight grandchildren. His first wife, to whom he was married for nearly 70 years, died in 2007. "Dr. Koop was not only a pioneering pediatric surgeon but also one of the most courageous and passionate public health advocates of the past century," said Wiley W. Souba, dean of the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth. "He did not back down from deeply rooted health challenges or powerful interests that stood in the way of needed change. Instead, he fought, he educated, and he transformed lives for the better."
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#1. To: A K A Stone (#0)
Koop, who turned his once-obscure post into a bully pulpit for seven years during the Reagan and George H.W. Bush administrations and who surprised both ends of the political spectrum by setting aside his conservative personal views on issues such as homosexuality and abortion to keep his focus sharply medical, died Monday at his home in Hanover, N.H. He was 96." http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_OBIT_KOOP?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2013-02-25-16-58-30 He was a very good man, he will be missed.
"That was the shot heard around the world, and it began to change public policy everywhere," said John Seffrin, chief executive officer of the American Cancer Society. The report started the move toward prohibiting smoking on airplanes, restaurants and at workplaces. He wasn't afraid to take on Big Tobacco one of the GOPs biggest financial contributors and definitely opened the doors to the states suing Big T to retrieve their health care costs caused by smoking. A man who by lived his convictions.
Almost every country in the Middle East is awash in oil, and we have to side with the one that has nothing but joos. Goddamn, that was good thinkin'. Esso posted on 2012-01-13 7:37:56 ET
I understand he died at such a young age due to exposure to second hand smoke.
Why is democracy held in such high esteem when it’s the enemy of the minority and makes all rights relative to the dictates of the majority? (Ron Paul,2012)
If only he hadn't been afraid to take on Big Welfare......
Why is democracy held in such high esteem when it’s the enemy of the minority and makes all rights relative to the dictates of the majority? (Ron Paul,2012)
We either called him Dr. Kook or Captain Kangaroo back when he was in office.
He could have startesd with the VA, and you would have been dead years ago.
Almost every country in the Middle East is awash in oil, and we have to side with the one that has nothing but joos. Goddamn, that was good thinkin'. Esso posted on 2012-01-13 7:37:56 ET
Everybody understands why you communists hate veterans and we know you are too stupid to understand the difference between welfare and earned benefits. You've never earned anything in your life but a ass-whipping or a rope around your necks,so how could you know?
Why is democracy held in such high esteem when it’s the enemy of the minority and makes all rights relative to the dictates of the majority? (Ron Paul,2012)
You've never earned anything in your life but a ass-whipping or a rope around your necks,so how could you know? According to you VA recipients are the communists. You need to man up and stop taking those communist benefits for the good of the country.
Almost every country in the Middle East is awash in oil, and we have to side with the one that has nothing but joos. Goddamn, that was good thinkin'. Esso posted on 2012-01-13 7:37:56 ET
You're not only THAT stupid,you are even stupid enough to brag about it.
Why is democracy held in such high esteem when it’s the enemy of the minority and makes all rights relative to the dictates of the majority? (Ron Paul,2012)
"Soon, though, he was a hero to AIDS activists, who chanted "Koop, Koop" at his appearances but booed other officials. And when he left his post in 1989, he left behind a landscape where AIDS was a top research and educational priority, smoking was considered a public health hazard, and access to abortion remained largely intact.
#2. To: A K A Stone (#0)
He was also well-known for his work around tobacco, calling for a "smoke-free" society. His 1986 surgeon general's report on the dangers of secondhand smoke was seminal.
#3. To: A K A Stone (#0)
#4. To: mininggold (#2)
He wasn't afraid to take on Big Tobacco
#5. To: sneakypete (#3)
#6. To: sneakypete (#4)
If only he hadn't been afraid to take on Big Welfare......
#7. To: mininggold (#6)
(Edited)
He could have startesd with the VA, and you would have been dead years ago.
#8. To: sneakypete (#7)
Everybody understands why you communists hate veterans and we know you are too stupid to understand the difference between welfare and earned benefits.
#9. To: mininggold (#8)
According to you VA recipients are the communists.
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