C. Everett Koop

Charles Everett Koop, M.D. (born October 14, 1916) was the Surgeon General of the United States from 1982 to 1989, under Ronald Reagan's presidency. He in a sense the first "celebrity Surgeon General" http://www.nndb.com/people/499/000022433/. Koop was born in Brooklyn, New York. He obtained his B.A. degree from Dartmouth College in 1937 and his M.D. degree from Cornell Medical College in 1941. During the 1940s and 1950s he rose in the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine to become professor of pediatric surgery, and later, professor of pediatrics. In February 1981, President Ronald Reagan appointed Koop as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Health with the promise, fulfilled a year later, that he would be nominated as Surgeon General.

Other activities

Following his career as Surgeon General, Koop and other investors established drkoop.com in 1998. This medical information website was one of the first major online sources of health information. However, critical review of the site content revealed that many of the private care listings, medicinal recommendations and medical trial referrals were in fact paid advertisements. Dr. Koop is no longer associated with the website, which continues to be active.

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