It is Recommended … That it be recognized by all organizations and associations concerned with smoking and health that the campaign against smoking is political and economic in character and requires decisions based on political and economic factors.

The only way we know today to stop cancer is to stop smoking. …

Approximately 45 million children engage in interscholastic athletics in the United States annually. The exact figure varies from year to year, and the growth of athletic participation indicates that the estimate may be low. Perhaps one percent of that number will receive medical care other than simple physical examinations or episodic treatment for trauma. In Michigan and Maryland, research has shown that fewer than 50 percent of the high schools have physicians in attendance for contact sports. Attendance by physicians at junior varsity and junior high school athletic contests is considerably less frequent. School-based physicians are vanishing, and other health professionals have not assumed responsibility for preventive medical care for scholastic athletes. Rather, in many instances, the “athletic trainer” has assumed responsibility for the health and condition of the athlete.

In an open letter to the physicians of New York published in the state medical journal, Robert Abrams, Attorney General of the State of New York Department of Law, urged them to sign all prescription forms over the “substitution permissible” signature line in an effort to save patients money. In its response, the Medical Society of the State of New York, while expressing its desire to eliminate unnecessary health care costs, stressed a cautious approach and noted two measures that could, in their opinion, lead to wider use of generic drugs.

First, the physicians called for controlled and scientifically valid studies to establish conclusively that generic drug substitutes are equivalent in bioavailability and therapeutic efficacy. Until such studies are performed, physicians, the Medical Society contends, are unwilling to authorize substitutes for medications with which they are familiar.