Christopher J. Proctor

Dr. Christopher J. Proctor was a Senior Scientific Advisor at Covington & Burling, USA. He also served as a Senior Research Scientist at British American Tobacco Ltd. Southampton prior to moving to Covington & Burling. In 2009, he was once again working for BAT as head of Science and Regulation at British American Tobacco.

= Biography = Dr. Proctor served as a Senior Research Scientist at British American Tobacco Company. Ltd. in Southampton, UK, until approximately 1990. In 1991 he was working for Covington and Burling in Washington, D.C. as Senior Scientific Adviser. In this capacity, he forwarded proposals for scientific research projects beneficial to the industry to executives at the major American tobacco companies. (Information derived from letterhead & signature comparisons.)

Tobacco industry documents
While working as a senior scientist at BATCo, in 1989 Dr. Proctor wrote notes that describe efforts by Brown & Williamson, Philip Morris, R.J. Reynolds and the tobacco industry's law firm of Covington and Burling (C&B) to "consolidate a group of scientific consultants in Asia that will be willing to contribute to the debate on ETS issues." These efforts appear to be part of the Whitecoat Project and were sponsored by the three major American tobacco companies named above. These efforts to recruit industry consultants in Asia were coordinated by John Rupp, also of C&B, who also sought assistance from BAT for the efforts. In the notes, Proctor discusses a scientific paper by a doctor at the University of Hong Kong named Linda Koo that suggested there was no clear association between lung cancer or bronchitis in non-smokers and their exposure to secondhand smoke. Proctor praises Koo and her work, saying "Both Koo's science and personality are of the highest quality...". He discusses how the industry could recruit Koo as a consultant while meeting her demands to be completely shielded from any direct association with the tobacco industry. Proctor writes, (on page 4): "Koo clearly would like funding, but is adamant that she must be entirely shielded from the tobacco industry.  This, I believe, increases her value." Proctor discusses routing payments to Koo through an environmental consultant, Sarah Liao, of EHS Consultants, Hong Kong. Proctor writes, "In private, it was...agreed that Liao would be used as a route to fund Koo." The document is demonstrative of how the American tobacco companies sought out scientists who would promote the industry's point of view in exchange for funding, and how these scientists sought to keep their financial relationship with the industry hiddent to preserve their integrity. Conversely, the industry also worked to preserve these scientists' appearance of independence to preserve the credibility of their work to the public.

Sourcewatch resources

 * British American Tobacco

Articles

 * BBC News Tobacco giant 'breaks youth code' June 28, 2008. Article describes BAT's marketing tactics in Malawi, Nigeria and Mauritius that circumvent advertising bans and appeal to you in violation of the company's own voluntary marketing code. Proctor is quoted.