LungBlog

In the case of Henschke’s study, Henschke and her team were well aware that the money for the trial - about $3.5 million - had originated from Liggett. In fact, according to Dr. Antonio Gotto, dean of Weill Cornell, the idea for the Foundation originated at a meeting some time in the late 1990s in which Henschke, representatives from the American Cancer Society, the National Cancer Institute, as well as anti-smoking activists were present. At the time, there was no national or international lung cancer screening effort in place, and the group decided that such a program was needed, and that tobacco companies should contribute funding to support the project. Liggett was the first to agree, and, to Gotto’s understanding, the company promised to convince other cigarette makers to donate as well. “We made a public announcement along with Liggett that they were making a gift to Weill Cornell to support this activity,” says Gotto, who was not involved in the study. “We made no effort to cover up the fact that the money was coming from Liggett. It is patently false that we set up the Foundation to cover up the fact that we were getting tobacco money.”