C. Everett Koop
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Charles Everett Koop, M.D. (born October 14, 1916) was the Surgeon General of the United States from 1982 to 1989, under Ronald Reagan's presidency. He was born in Brooklyn, New York, as Charles Everett Koop. He obtained his B.A. degree from Dartmouth College in 1937 and his M.D. degree from Cornell Medical School in 1941. During the 1940s and 1950s he rose in the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine to become professor of pediatric surgery, and later, professor of pediatrics. In February, 1981, President Ronald Reagan appointed Koop as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Health with the promise, fulfilled a year later, that he would be nominated as Surgeon General.
Koop is well known for four facets of his work:
- Abortion: Koop, a religiously inclined man, took a relatively hard line on abortion; his opinions on the subject were a matter of some disquiet when he was nominated for the post.
- Tobacco: In 1988 he published a report stating that nicotine has an addictiveness similar to that of heroin or cocaine. Koop's report was somewhat unexpected, especially by those who expected him to maintain the status quo in regards to his office's position on tobacco products.
- AIDS: Koop's tenure included the period during which public health authorities began to take notice of AIDS. Koop wrote the official U.S. policy on the syndrome, and took unprecedented action in mailing AIDS information to every U.S. household. Many were unhappy with the way in which he dealt with gay sex and the risk of infection through anal sex; Koop was unapologetic and explained his position in terms of such activities entailing risks several orders of magnitude greater than other means of transmission.
- Profile: Taken together, these three issues —combined with Dr. Koop's personality and his willingness to make use of mass media —brought to the office of Surgeon General a higher public profile than it previously had merited; he is, for instance, the first Surgeon General to have been the subject of a popular song—"Promiscuous", by Frank Zappa. Koop was a somewhat eccentric and flamboyant figure, well-known for his mustache-less beard and colorful bow ties. He wore the Surgeon General's ceremonial military uniform (complete with medals) during much of his day-to-day work, reviving an old practice.
Other Activities
Following his career as Surgeon General, Koop and other investors established drkoop.com (http://www.drkoop.com/) in 1998. This medical information website was one of the first major online sources of health information. However, critical review of the site content revealed that many of the private care listings, medicinal recommendations and medical trial referrals were in fact paid advertisements. Dr. Koop is no longer associated with the website, which continues to be active.
| Preceded by: Edward Brandt, Jr. | U.S. Surgeon General 1982–1989 | Succeeded by: James O. Mason |