In Cahoots: Reporter Howard Wolinsky Discusses His Exposes of the AMA’s Collaboration with the Tobacco Industry

The Unfiltered Truth About Smoking and Health

Alan Blum, MD interviews reporter Howard Wolinsky. Wolinsky’s investigative reporting on the American Medical Association was a hallmark of his 27-year career as medical writer for the Chicago Sun-Times from 1980 to 2007. In 1994, he and fellow Sun-Times reporter Tom Brune co-authored The Serpent on the Staff: The Unhealthy Politics of the American Medical Association (New York, NY: GP Putnam’s Sons). (23:24)

Closed caption transcription available here

Howard Wolinksy

Howard Wolinsky

Twitter
2019

The Back Stories:

  • The AMA and its tobacco stock holdings, 1981
  • The AMA president’s and board member’s tobacco farm, 1985
  • JAMA editor goes to work for a cigarette manufacturer, 1950s

Further Reading:
Tobacco Firms, AMA Once Friends : Parting of Ways Not Without Its Embarrassing Moments

  • The AMA collaborates with the tobacco industry on research, 1963-1978
  • The AMA fights against Medicare but not against smoking, 1960s
  • The AMA on anti-smoking: Do what we say, not what we do, 1980s