Dr. Michael Greger

So new blockbuster drug, oh my God, there is a press release.

There is ads on TV.

Everybody knows about the new drug, which could have even a fraction of the benefit as the, and so I feel like we're in a very similar situation to kind of smoking in the 50s.

In the 50s, we had already literally- Doctor recommended cigarettes.

Decades of research starting in the 30s, linking lung cancer and smoking.

And so yet, the average per capita cigarette consumption in the 1950s, 4,000 cigarettes a year, meaning the average person walking around smoked half a pack a day.

That's crazy.

Most doctors smoked.

The media was telling people to smoke.

The American Medical Association said smoking in moderation.

That was fine, right?

And so by the time 1964, when the first Surgeon General's report came out,

And smoking rates went up, up, up until 1964.

Then in one of the most remarkable public health victories of all time, basically smoking rates have come down every year since and down this tumbling lung cancer rates.

It's just the most beautiful graphs in all public health.

And what happened in 1964?

The first Surgeon General's report, just this acknowledgement by the powers that be that, okay, yeah, smoking isn't good for you.

And they cited 7,000 studies, right?

So you'd think maybe after the first...

6,000 studies could give people a little heads up or something, right?