Tobacco Company CEO Resigns From Cancer Institute Board - Boston Globe

[hatrack]

"Weeks after the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute quietly appointed a tobacco company chief executive to its board of trustees, the executive resigned from the board yesterday, after inquiries by the Globe.

On Jan. 25, the cancer center appointed Bennett S. Le- Bow, chairman and chief executive of Vector Group Ltd. of Miami, the nation's fifth largest cigarette maker, to its board of trustees. Dana-Farber's Feb. 23 newsletter, which announced the appointment, described LeBow as a businessman and philanthropist, but did not mention LeBow's lengthy tobacco industry career. Yesterday afternoon, after the Globe asked about the appointment, Dana-Farber announced that LeBow had resigned.

"Mr. Lebow, not wishing to be a distraction to our work, has offered to resign this new appointment, and his resignation has been accepted by our board," said a statement released by Dana-Farber's president, Dr. Edward J. Benz Jr. "We did not intend his appointment to in any way be construed as an endorsement of the tobacco industry or tobacco consumption.

We have led and continue to lead major research and outreach efforts in smoking cessation and cancer prevention." Dana-Farber's 157 trustees are volunteers who help shape policy and guide business decisions for the institute, as well as assist in fund-raising. LeBow has made gifts to Dana-Farber to fund multiple myeloma research, though the institute would not say how much he has contributed. Trustees are typically business leaders, philanthropists, former patients, cancer advocates, and community leaders. They serve three-year terms and meet as a full board several times a year. No other tobacco executives serve on the board, according to Dana-Farber. The institute declined to explain why LeBow's tobacco career was not mentioned in its public announcement of his appointment."

EDIT

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2005/03/08/tobacco_ceo_quits_dana_farber_board/

[BlueEyedSon]

1. Cancer research = devising new ways to CAUSE cancer?

[Warpy]

2. It's hard to know how to feel about this one

I know it's farfetched, but LeBow may have been trying to atone for a lifetime of selling poison to children by putting in time and effort at the other end, aiding an institution dedicated to helping them overcome the consequences.

Then again, it may have been another GOP bullying job, that they were forced to accept the guy on the board as a way of deodorizing the industry.

In any case, he did meet the criteria for serving a 3 year term on the board, and it's a shame they tried to cover up his former career.

It's always the coverup that gets ya, folks.