Wigand and the Tobacco Whistleblowing
Jeffrey Wigand’s Short Biography
Dr. Jeffrey Wigand was born on December 17, 1942 in New York City. He grew up in the Bronx in a Roman Catholic family. During his childhood, they moved to Pleasant Valley, New York. He earned his Master’s and Ph.D. from the Buffalo’s University Buffalo School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences after a brief time in the military including his short assignment in Vietnam. In 1970, he met Linda, his first wife, while attending a Judo class. However, they eventually divorce because Linda developed multiple sclerosis shortly after their marriage. (Astrobank, 2001; Jeffrey Wigand.com, 2000-2001; & Wikipedia, 2006)
He worked for several health care companies, including Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson prior to working for Brown and Williamson (B&W) Tobacco Corporation. While working at Johnson & Johnson, he met his second wife Lucretia in 1981 whom he had two daughters. Additionally, he was also employed at Union Carbide in Japan as a general manager and marketing director and as a senior vice-president at Technicon Instruments. (Astrobank, 2001; Jeffrey Wigand.com, 2000-2001; & Wikipedia, 2006)
After 17 years in the health-care field, he went to work for B&W Tobacco Corporation in Louisville, Kentucky in January 1989 as a vice-president for research and development. His initial assignment was to develop a new, healthier cigarette to put into a competitive market. After a year at B&W, Wigand began to keep an extensive scientific diary when he became aware of studies done by the company in Switzerland of smoking dangers. The company thought that he was becoming a problem with his questions and criticism that was why his evaluation in 1991 at work read that he had “a difficulty in communication. (Astrobank, 2001; Jeffrey Wigand.com, 2000-2001; & Wikipedia, 2006)
In the late 1992, he objected to the use of coumarin in cigarettes because it was proved to cause cancer in rats and mice. However, he was told that the removal of coumarin would have a negative impact to the sales. His anger begun to focus and take shape that was why he concentrated his research on the properties of additives. Conversely, he was fired on March 24, 1993. He was escorted from the building and his diary and papers were confiscated. (Astrobank, 2001; Jeffrey Wigand.com, 2000-2001; & Wikipedia, 2006)
After this event, he reportedly “blew the whistle” on Brown and Williamson Tobacco Corporation. He became known as a whistleblower when he exposed the company’s practice of “impact boosting” by intentionally manipulating the effect of nicotine in cigarettes on the CBS news program, the 60 Minutes. (Astrobank, 2001; Jeffrey Wigand.com, 2000-2001; & Wikipedia, 2006)
Wigand claimed that he was subsequently harassed and received anonymous threats on his life because of that action. However, even though his personal life was destroyed, he saved the lives of millions of cigarette users. In 1995, one and a half years after that event, he took a job teaching Japanese at a fraction of his former salary which he continues to do until this day. On one hand, on February 4, 1996, Mike Wallace released the full story of “whistleblowing” on 60 Minutes program. Similarly, it was portrayed by Russell Crowe in the movie, The Insider. (Astrobank, 2001; Jeffrey Wigand.com, 2000-2001; & Wikipedia, 2006)
The Whistleblowing: an Analysis
Dr. Jeffrey Wigand was the president of research and development (R&D) for the B&W Tobacco Corporation, the third largest tobacco company, from January 1989 to late March 1993. He was responsible as the senior officer in R&D for reporting to, consulting with and giving advice to Thomas Sandefur, the president of B&W. Doctor Wigand said that one of the reasons why he was hired by B&W was to make a safer cigarette that would reduce the carcinogens within tobacco products (60 Minutes, 1996). However the company abandoned his idea of trying to develop a new and safer cigarette, so he turned his attention in investigating the additives and flavoring in B&W tobacco products. (as cited in Miethe, 1999)
Wigand alleged that one of these flavorings, the coumarin, was used in B&W’s pipe tobacco products even after it was shown to cause various cancers. According to him, in his remarked on the CBS program, 60 Minutes, when he sent a memo to Sandefur voicing his concerns about coumarin, he was told that B&W would continue working on a substitute for coumarin but wouldn’t remove it because it would impact sales. Further, he said that he wasn’t surprised that he was fired after his confrontation with Sandefur. However, B&W denied his accusations and testified in court records that he was fired because he misled management at B&W with half-truths to the point that the management lost trust in him and that he exhibited an abusive style with co-workers. (as cited in Miethe, 1999)
Wigand’s identity as an external whistleblower became public after his termination at B&W. He made the following allegations against his former employer in court documents, newspaper coverage, and television interviews:
1. B&W manipulated nicotine levels in cigarettes by the use of additives, by blending techniques, and by looking at genetically engineered tobacco. The primary form of managing or manipulating nicotine delivery was through the use of ammonia compounds. B&W knowingly put acetaldehyde, an additive that was used to boost the nicotine effect, in its tobacco products. (as cited in Miethe, 1999)
2. B&W falsified evidence regarding the damaging effects of tobacco. Results of cigarette research were manipulated to prevent discovery in the event of litigation. Company lawyers edited potentially incriminating information out of company reports. (as cited in Miethe, 1999)
3. Tobacco companies, knowing that nicotine was addictive before federal researchers did, deliberately manipulated nicotine levels in cigarettes to hook smokers. (as cited in Miethe, 1999)
4. The public was intentionally misled to believe that the industry did not know tobacco was addictive or that there was a link between tobacco usage and disease. Former CEO Thomas Sandefur lied to the U.S. Congress when he said that he believed that nicotine was not addictive. (as cited in Miethe, 1999)
5. B&W continued to use a flavoring in pipe tobacco that was known to cause cancer in lab animals. (as cited in Miethe, 1999)
6. B&W quashed plans for developing a safer cigarette because of fear of litigation for "unsafe" tobacco products. (as cited in Miethe, 1999)
The nature of retaliation such as the physical threats against his family, lawsuits, negative publicity and numerous threats of future litigation for speaking out against Wigand for disclosing industry practices has been wide, varied and severe. Such clear reprisals were more dramatic and chronic evaluating its scope and nature (Ling, 1991). However, by all accounts, Dr. Jeffrey Wigand's testimony about B&W practices has had a dramatic impact on public policy and public attitudes toward the tobacco industry. Through his disclosures, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) acquired the information it needed to regulate tobacco by establishing rules that would govern the accessibility of cigarettes and designate nicotine as a drug. (Keenan & McClain, 1992)
The attorneys general in more than half of the U.S. states now had crucial information to use to sue the tobacco industry for reimbursements for the costs of smoking-related illnesses. From the perspective of anti-tobacco activists, the timing of these disclosures was nearly perfect because it occurred a short period after the seven U.S. tobacco companies testified under oath in a U.S. congressional hearing that they did not believe that nicotine is addictive or dangerous and that their companies did not manipulate its levels (Courier-Journal 1997). (as cited in Keenan & McClain, 1992)
The only sad thing happened was that he suffered the aftermath of hid disclosures because aside from the various types of retaliation he believes the tobacco industry has inflicted on him, his life has changed in several fundamental ways. First, his marriage was dissolved and his former wife received sole custody of his children. Second, some of his attorneys have filed a lawsuit against him for failing to pay their legal fees. Third, his salary has dropped from $400,000 per year as a major executive to slightly more than $30,000 as a high school teacher. Fourth, he remains in constant jeopardy of future legal action by tobacco officials for unlawful disclosures. (Miethe, 1999)
Nonetheless, his story was important because it conveyed how successful whistleblowing can be accomplished and highlighted the hazards of taking this action even if for Wigand whistleblowing has involved enormous personal risks. This also helps us understand that the decision to blow the whistle on organizational misconduct is never easy or clear-cut. There are risks and rewards for both speaking out and remaining silent. Whatever choice is made, there are consequences for the individual, the organization, and the wider society. Similarly, it helps us think that before we act, it's important to realize that exposing abuse and corruption is serious business that has lifelong consequences. (Alfred, 1990)
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