Domenic A. Ciraulo

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This article is part of the Tobacco portal on Sourcewatch funded from 2006 - 2009 by the American Legacy Foundation.

Domenic Anthony Ciraulo, M.D. is a psychiatrist at Boston University School of Medicine. He is considered a tobacco industry expert and a witness for defendant tobacco companies in cases against the industry.

Biography

Domenic A. Ciraulo was born October 14, 1948 in Hartford, Connecticut. He graduated in 1971 summa cum laude with a B.S. degree from the University of Hartford, West Hartford, CT.[1]

Ciraulo was a professor of psychiatry at Tufts University School of Medicine, Medford, Massachusetts in 1994.(AP 8/2/94) As a drug abuse specialist, Ciraulo testified on behalf of Philip Morris before the FDA Drug Abuse Advisory Committee about nicotine on 8/2/94.(Reuters 8/2/94)[2] He agrees with cigarette makers' belief that nicotine is not addictive and claims he was able to stop a pack-a-day cigarette habit without professional help.(AP 8/2/94) Ciraulo says there are no medical tests that show the effects of nicotine to be the same as dependence on cocaine and heroin.(Reuters 8/2/94)

Dr. Ciraulo defended the tobacco industry at the 1994 FDA hearings on tobacco: "It was horrible," he said. "I don't want to be in the limelight, especially over this," but he said he felt the opposing view point needed to be aired.

Dr. Ciraulo's work in drug abuse led him into the tobacco fray. He argues that "addiction" is such a loaded term that its use is problematic, and he is critical of studies that liken nicotine to cocaine and heroin. "The similarities just aren't true, based on common sense," says Dr. Ciraulo, adding that the "political agenda is carrying the science."

Dr. Ciraulo, at age 46, quit smoking two decades earlier, and acknowledges tobacco's health risks. "My mother stopped smoking, and I am glad,...I think its foolish to smoke." He says he hasn't taken tobacco money for research and billed the industry for testimony at the $300/hr rate he charges other clients. He says he doesn't notice tobacco earnings: "It's only a very small fraction of what I do," he adds. (Tobacco Dream Team: Experts Who Insist Nicotine Isn't Addictive, WSJ 3/23/95). He was used as an expert in the Mississippi case.

Contact

Domenic A. Ciraulo
VA Outpatient Clinic
Dept. Psychiatry Service
251 Causeway Street
Boston, MA 02114
Phone: 617-248-1047
Email: Ciraulo.Domenic_AATBoston.VA.gov (replace the "AT" with @)

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