The Nation - News from April 27, 1989

As many as 12 million Americans would give up cigarettes if doctors urged their smoking patients to quit and supported those who took the advice, Surgeon General C. Everett Koop said. Koop joined the National Cancer Institute and the American Cancer Society in challenging phynsicians and health professionals to counsel their patients who smoke. Koop and the cancer groups asserted that smokers whose doctors help them quit are perhaps six times more likely to kick the habit for good. Yet the surgeon general said a 1987 survey found that only 49% of smokers reported that their physicians ever advised them to quit. To boost that figure, the cancer organizations announced that they will send 100,000 doctors a brochure that tells how to stop the habit.