View source for C. Everett Koop

{{short description|American pediatric surgeon and public health administrator (1916–2013)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2013}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| image               = C. Everett Koop, 1980s.jpg
| caption             = Official portrait, 1980s
| order               = 13th
| office              = Surgeon General of the United States
| president           = {{plainlist|
* [[Ronald Reagan]]
* [[George H. W. Bush]]
}}
| term_start          = January 21, 1982
| term_end            = October 1, 1989
| predecessor         = [[Julius B. Richmond]]
| successor           = [[Antonia Novello]]
| birth_name          = Charles Everett Koop
| birth_date          = {{birth date|1916|10|14}}
| birth_place         = New York City, U.S.
| death_date          = {{death date and age|2013|2|25|1916|10|14}}
| death_place         = [[Hanover, New Hampshire]], U.S.
| party               = [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]]
| spouse              = {{plainlist|
* {{marriage|Elizabeth Flanagan|1938|2007|end = died}}
* {{marriage|Cora Hogue<br>|2010}}
}}
| children            = 4
| education           = {{plainlist|
* [[Dartmouth College]] ([[Bachelor of Arts|AB]])
* [[Cornell University]] ([[Doctor of Medicine|MD]])
* [[University of Pennsylvania]] ([[Doctor of Science|DSc]])
}}
}}
'''Charles Everett Koop''' (October 14, 1916 – February 25, 2013)<ref name="Bloomberg death"/><ref name="USA Today death"/> was an American [[pediatric surgeon]] and public health administrator who served as the 13th [[surgeon general of the United States]] under President [[Ronald Reagan]] from 1982 to 1989. According to the [[Associated Press]], "Koop was the only surgeon general to become a household name" due to his frequent public presence around the HIV/AIDS crisis of the 1980s.<ref name="Washington Post death">{{cite news|title=Highlights of career of C. Everett Koop, only surgeon general to become a household name|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/highlights-of-career-of-c-everett-koop-only-surgeon-general-to-become-a-household-name/2013/02/25/2a4a9118-7fab-11e2-a671-0307392de8de_story.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181214115103/https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/highlights-of-career-of-c-everett-koop-only-surgeon-general-to-become-a-household-name/2013/02/25/2a4a9118-7fab-11e2-a671-0307392de8de_story.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=December 14, 2018|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=February 25, 2013|access-date=August 25, 2017}}</ref>

Koop was known for his work on [[Tobacco in the United States|tobacco use]], [[HIV/AIDS in the United States|AIDS]], and [[Abortion in the United States|abortion]], and for his support of the [[Disability rights movement|rights of children with disabilities]].

==Early life and education==
Koop was born in [[Brooklyn]], New York, the only child of John Everett Koop (1883–1972), a banker and descendant of 17th-century Dutch settlers, and Helen (née Apel) Koop (1894–1970).<ref name="NYT death forceful">{{cite news|last=Noble|first=Holcomb B.|date=February 25, 2013|title=C. Everett Koop, Forceful Surgeon General, Dies at 96|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/26/us/c-everett-koop-forceful-surgeon-general-dies-at-96.html}}</ref> He attended and graduated from Flatbush School.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://profiles.nlm.nih.gov/spotlight/qq/feature/biographical-overview | title=Biographical Overview | date=March 12, 2019 }}</ref> In 1937, he earned his Bachelor of Arts in zoology degree from [[Dartmouth College]],<ref name="VTDigger-Valley News"/> where he was given the nickname "Chick" (occasionally used for his first name, Charles, but here an allusion to a [[chicken coop]]).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://profiles.nlm.nih.gov/QQ/B/B/D/N/ |title=&#91;C. Everett Koop with President Ronald Reagan&#93; &#91;1980s&#93; |publisher=US National Institutes of Health |date=June 25, 2003 }}</ref> His interest in medicine followed a year in the hospital after a childhood skiing accident and [[brain hemorrhage]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/medicine-obituaries/10039099/C-Everett-Koop.html|title=Obituaries:C Everett Koop|work=The Daily Telegraph|date=5 May 2013|access-date=7 May 2013}}</ref> He earned his [[Doctor of Medicine|MD]] degree from [[Weill Cornell Medical College|Cornell Medical College]] in 1941 and [[Doctor of Science]] degree in medicine from the [[Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania|University of Pennsylvania]] in 1947.<ref name="Dartmouth School of Medicine bio"/>

==Medical career==
From 1946 to 1981, Koop was the surgeon-in-chief at the [[Children's Hospital of Philadelphia]] (CHOP).<ref>{{Cite web |date=2014-01-22 |title=Former Surgeon General C. Everett Koop Leaves Legacy on AIDS, Smoking {{!}} PBS NewsHour |website=[[PBS]] |url=https://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/2013/02/former-surgeon-general-c-everett-koop-leaves-public-health-legacy-on-aids.html |access-date=2023-08-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140122181433/https://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/2013/02/former-surgeon-general-c-everett-koop-leaves-public-health-legacy-on-aids.html |archive-date=January 22, 2014 }}</ref> Koop was able to establish the nation's first neonatal surgical intensive care unit there in 1956.<ref name="NIH2">{{cite web|url=https://profiles.nlm.nih.gov/ps/retrieve/Narrative/QQ/p-nid/84|title=The C. Everett Koop Papers: Biographical Information|year=2013|publisher=Profiles.nlm.nih.gov|access-date=February 27, 2013}}</ref>  He helped establish the [[biliary atresia]] program at CHOP when Japanese surgeon [[Morio Kasai]] came to work with him in the 1970s.  He also established the pediatric surgery fellowship training program at CHOP.  During his tenure there he graduated 35 residents and 14 foreign fellows, many of whom went on to become professors of pediatric surgery, directors of divisions of pediatric surgery, and surgeons-in-chief of children's hospitals.

Koop became a professor of pediatric surgery in 1959 and professor of [[pediatrics]] in 1971 at the [[Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania|University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine]].<ref name="Dartmouth School of Medicine bio"/>

While a surgeon in Philadelphia, Koop performed groundbreaking surgical procedures on [[conjoined twins]], invented techniques which today are commonly used for infant surgery, and saved the lives of countless children who otherwise might have been allowed to die. He invented anesthetic and surgical techniques for small bodies and metabolisms and participated in the separation of several sets of conjoined twins whose condition other physicians at the time considered hopeless. He first gained international recognition in 1957 by the separation of two female pygopagus infants (conjoined at the [[Human pelvis|pelvis]])<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nlm.nih.gov/hmd/conjoined/separation.html |title=From 'Monsters' to Modern Medical Miracles – Separation Surgeries (20th century–present) |publisher=Nlm.nih.gov |access-date=September 23, 2009}}</ref> and then, again, in 1974 by the separation of two ischiopagus twins (conjoined at the [[Vertebral column|spine]]) sharing a liver, colon, and parts of the intestines with their entire trunks merged.

Koop was active in publishing articles in the medical literature.  Koop later wrote that: {{blockquote|Each day of those early years in pediatric surgery I felt I was on the cutting edge.  Some of the surgical problems that landed on the operating table at Children's had not even been named.  Many of the operations I performed had never been done before.  It was an exuberant feeling, but also a little scary.  At times I was troubled by fears that I wasn't doing things the right way, that I would have regrets, or that someone else had performed a certain procedure successfully but had never bothered to write it up for the medical journals, or if they had I couldn't find it.<ref>{{cite book|last=Koop|first=Charles Everett|title=Koop: The Memoirs of America's Family Doctor|publisher=HarperPaperbacks|date=1993|pages=127|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=czrZOVnx3EQC|access-date=February 26, 2013|isbn=9780061042492}}</ref>}}  Koop helped rectify this by publishing his own findings and results.  Additionally, he became the first editor of the ''Journal of Pediatric Surgery'' when it was founded in 1966.<ref name="Dartmouth School of Medicine bio"/>

In contrast to his years as surgeon general, when it was his policies and speeches that had bearing on other people, his years as an operating pediatric surgeon involved a more individualized, direct, hands-on effect on others.  During the course of his long career, for example, he performed some seventeen thousand [[inguinal hernia]] repairs and over seven thousand [[Orchiopexy|orchidopexies]] (surgery for correcting [[undescended testicle]]).  He developed new procedures, such as the colon interposition graft for correcting [[esophageal atresia]] (congenital lack of continuity of the esophagus) or ventriculoperitoneal shunts for treatment of [[hydrocephalus]] (accumulation of excessive cerebral spinal fluid in and around the brain causing neurological problems).<ref name="NIH2"/>  He also tackled many difficult cases ranging from childhood cancer to surgeries done on [[conjoined twins]], of which he and his colleagues operated upon ten pairs during his 35-year tenure.  In all he operated on many children and babies with congenital defects 'incompatible with life but amenable to surgical correction'.

In 1976, Koop wrote ''The Right to Live, The Right to Die'', setting down his strong opposition to abortion and euthanasia.<ref name="NIH2"/>  Koop also took some time off from his surgical practice to make a series of films with conservative Christian apologists [[Frank Schaeffer]] and his father [[Francis Schaeffer]] in 1978, entitled ''Whatever Happened to the Human Race?'' based on the book of the same title that was previously written by the elder Schaeffer.<ref name="NIH2"/> Frank Schaeffer and his associate, Jim Buchfuehrer provided a private, five hour screening to [[Jack Kemp|U.S. Rep. Jack Kemp]] and wife Joanne on their home that, according to Frank Schaeffer's account of the late evening and early morning event in his book ''Crazy for God'', led to both the Schaeffers and Koop obtaining "...access to everyone in the Republican Party".<ref>Schaeffer, Frank. ''Crazy for God: How I Grew Up as One of the Elect, Helped Found The Religious Right, and Lived to Take All (or Almost All) of It Back''. Carrol & Graf Publishers, 2007, pp. 284–285.</ref>

President Ronald Reagan, shortly after his first inauguration, appointed Koop Deputy Assistant Secretary for Health in February 1981.<ref name="Bloomberg death"/> It was understood that Reagan would later nominate Koop to be surgeon general.<ref name="Bloomberg death"/>

==Surgeon General of the United States==
[[File:C. Everett Koop on the day of his confirmation as Surgeon General (QQBBQB) noframe.jpg|right|thumb|Koop with his wife, Betty, Senator [[Orrin Hatch]] of Utah, and Secretary of Health and Human Services [[Richard Schweiker]].]]
As expected, Koop was nominated to be Surgeon General of the United States by Reagan later in 1981.<ref name="HuffPost Ring Cass">{{cite news|last=Ring|first=Wilson|author2=Connie Cass|date=February 25, 2013|title=C. Everett Koop Dead: Former Surgeon General Dies At 96|newspaper=The Huffington Post|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/25/c-everett-koop-dead-dies_n_2761192.html?ir=Politics}}</ref> Many liberal politicians and women's groups opposed the nomination because of Koop's very conservative views and strong anti-abortion beliefs.<ref name="HuffPost Ring Cass"/> His nomination was confirmed by the [[United States Senate]] on November 16, 1981, by a vote of 60–24.<ref name="Pittsburgh Press sworn in">{{cite news|title=Koop Takes Office as Surgeon General in Quiet Ceremony|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=IckdAAAAIBAJ&pg=2328,2875603|newspaper=The Pittsburgh Press|date=January 22, 1982}}</ref> He was sworn into office on January 21 the following year.<ref name="Pittsburgh Press sworn in"/>

===Abortion===
Although Koop was opposed to [[abortion]] on personal and religious grounds,<ref name="NYT death forceful" /><ref name="HuffPost Ring Cass" /><ref name="NYT Koop's Stand">{{cite news|last=Tolchin|first=Martin|date=January 11, 1989|title=Koop's Stand on Abortion's Effect Surprises Friends and Foes Alike|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1989/01/11/us/koop-s-stand-on-abortion-s-effect-surprises-friends-and-foes-alike.html}}</ref><ref name="MSNBC Koop told the truth">{{cite news|last=Cowley|first=Geoffrey|date=February 25, 2013|title=C. Everett Koop, a conservative who told the truth|newspaper=MSNBC|url=http://tv.msnbc.com/2013/02/25/c-everett-koop-a-conservative-who-told-the-truth/}}</ref> he declined to state that abortion procedures performed by qualified medical professionals posed a substantial health risk to the women whose pregnancies were being terminated, despite political pressure to endorse such a position.<ref name="NYT Leary" /><ref name="MSNBC Koop told the truth" />

====Koop Report====
Koop, an opponent of abortion, resisted pressure from the [[Presidency of Ronald Reagan|Reagan administration]] in 1987 to prepare a report stating that abortion was psychologically harmful to women.<ref name="NYT abortion">{{cite news|title=U.S. Data on Abortion Censored, House Unit Says|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1989/12/11/us/us-data-on-abortion-censored-house-unit-says.html|newspaper=The New York Times|date=December 11, 1989}}</ref> He said it was not a public health issue but a moral one.<ref name="Bloomberg death">{{citation|author1-last=Schoifet|author1-first=Mark|title=C. Everett Koop, Surgeon General Who Took on Tobacco, Dies at 96|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-02-25/c-everett-koop-surgeon-general-who-took-on-tobacco-dies-at-96.html|url-access=subscription|work=Bloomberg.com|date=February 25, 2013 <!--16:00 GMT-->|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130228211719/https://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-02-25/c-everett-koop-surgeon-general-who-took-on-tobacco-dies-at-96.html|archive-date=February 28, 2013|url-status=live}}</ref> Koop assigned an assistant, George Walter, the task of researching the matter. Walter obtained a list of articles from the [[Centers for Disease Control and Prevention]] (CDC), authored mainly by CDC abortion-surveillance staff, and consulted with [[Alan Guttmacher Institute]] personnel. Walter wrote a draft report on his findings and gave it to Koop.

In a January 10, 1989, letter to Reagan, Koop said there was insufficient evidence to substantiate issuing the finding desired by the administration.<ref name="Bloomberg death" /><ref name="NYT abortion" /><ref name="NYT Leary">{{cite news|last=Leary|first=Warren E.|title=Koop Says Abortion Report Couldn't Survive Challenge|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1989/03/17/us/koop-says-abortion-report-couldn-t-survive-challenge.html|newspaper=The New York Times|date=March 17, 1989}}</ref> He also commented about how some of the president's advisers thought that "it was a foregone conclusion that the negative health effects of abortion on women were so overwhelming that the evidence would force the reversal of ''[[Roe v. Wade]]''".<ref name="NYT Leary" />

Koop did not present the draft report to Reagan and claimed he never approved it.<ref name="NYT Leary" /> In March 1989, the "Koop Report" became public after it was [[subpoena]]ed and became part of a [[United States House of Representatives|Congressional]] subcommittee hearing.<ref name="NYT Leary" /> Although there were allegations that the report had not been released previously because it was biased, the document contained all arguments on both sides of the issue.<ref name="NYT Leary" />

===Tobacco===
In his 1988 ''Report of the Surgeon General'',{{cn|date=February 2025}} it was reported that [[nicotine]] has an addictiveness similar to that of heroin or [[cocaine]]. Koop's report was somewhat unexpected, especially by those who expected him to maintain the status quo in regard to his office's position on tobacco products. During his tenure, in 1984, Congress passed legislation providing new, rotated health warning labels on cigarette packs and required advertising to include the labels. Those labels remain unchanged today. The FDA announced new labels containing graphic depictions of smoking-caused illness and death, but they were put on hold pending the outcome of the tobacco industry's legal challenges. Koop challenged Americans in 1984 to "create a smoke-free society in the United States by the year 2000."<ref>Koop CE. Call for a smoke-free society. ''Pediatric Pulmonology'' 1985;1:4–5</ref>  As Surgeon General, he released eight reports on the health consequences of tobacco use,<ref>* {{cite web|year=1982|title=The Health Consequences of Smoking: Cancer: A Report of the Surgeon General (1982)|url=https://profiles.nlm.nih.gov/NN/B/C/D/W/|access-date=October 17, 2011|publisher=Profiles.nlm.nih.gov}}
* {{cite web|year=1983|title=The Health Consequences of Smoking: Cardiovascular Disease |url=https://profiles.nlm.nih.gov/NN/B/B/T/D/|access-date=October 17, 2011|publisher=Profiles.nlm.nih.gov}}
* {{cite web|date=April 19, 2002|title=The Health Consequences of Smoking: Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease: A Report of the Surgeon General (1984)|url=https://profiles.nlm.nih.gov/NN/B/C/C/S/|access-date=October 17, 2011|publisher=Profiles.nlm.nih.gov}}
* {{cite web|date=March 27, 2002|title=The Health Consequences of Smoking: Cancer and Chronic Lung Disease in the Workplace: A Report of the Surgeon General (1985)|url=https://profiles.nlm.nih.gov/NN/B/C/B/N/|access-date=October 17, 2011|publisher=Profiles.nlm.nih.gov}}
* {{cite web|date=April 9, 2002|title=The Health Consequences of Using Smokeless Tobacco (April 1986)|url=https://profiles.nlm.nih.gov/NN/B/B/F/C/|access-date=October 17, 2011|publisher=Profiles.nlm.nih.gov}}
* {{cite web|date=March 27, 2002|title=The Health Consequences of Involuntary Smoking: A Report of the Surgeon General (1986)|url=https://profiles.nlm.nih.gov/NN/B/C/P/M/|access-date=October 17, 2011|publisher=Profiles.nlm.nih.gov}}
* {{cite web|date=March 27, 2002|title=The Health Consequences of Smoking: Nicotine Addiction: A Report of the Surgeon General (1988)|url=https://profiles.nlm.nih.gov/NN/B/B/Z/D/|access-date=October 17, 2011|publisher=Profiles.nlm.nih.gov}}
* {{cite web|date=September 26, 2005|title=Reducing the Health Consequences of Smoking: 25 Years of Progress: A Report of the Surgeon General: 1989 Executive Summary |url=https://profiles.nlm.nih.gov/NN/B/B/X/S/|access-date=October 17, 2011|publisher=Profiles.nlm.nih.gov}}</ref> including the first report on the health consequences of involuntary tobacco smoke exposure. During Koop's tenure as Surgeon General, smoking rates in the United States declined significantly from 38% to 27%.<ref>{{cite web|author1=Mike Stobbe|author2=Connie Cass|date=February 26, 2013|title=C. Everett Koop, 'Rock Star' Surgeon General, Dies|url=https://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory/everett-koop-surgeon-general-dies-nh-18592170|access-date=February 26, 2013|work=ABC News|agency=Associated Press}}</ref>

===AIDS===
{{further|Ronald Reagan and AIDS}}
Koop was Surgeon General when public health authorities first began to take notice of [[AIDS]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://profiles.nlm.nih.gov/spotlight/qq/feature/biographical|title=Biographical Overview|date=March 12, 2019|website=C. Everett Koop – Profiles in Science}}</ref> For his first four years in office, Koop, the nation's top health officer, was prevented from addressing this health crisis for reasons he insisted were never apparent to him but that were no doubt political.<ref>{{cite web|date=October 22, 1986|title=The C. Everett Koop Papers: AIDS, the Surgeon General, and the Politics of Public Health|url=https://profiles.nlm.nih.gov/ps/retrieve/Narrative/QQ/p-nid/87|access-date=April 26, 2013|publisher=Profiles.nlm.nih.gov}}</ref> Koop wrote the official U.S. policy on the disease, and in 1988 he took unprecedented action in [[Understanding AIDS|mailing AIDS information to every U.S. household]].<ref>[https://profiles.nlm.nih.gov/ps/access/QQBDRL.pdf Understanding AIDS – A Message from the Surgeon General]. Profiles.nlm.nih.gov. Retrieved on 2013-02-27.</ref> Health advocates and organizations expressed dissatisfaction with the focus on same-sex activity and anal sexual intercourse as primary vectors for disease transmission. Surgeon General Koop maintained that these activities posed significantly higher risks than other transmission methods. In addition, some religious groups raised concerns about the pamphlet’s candid discussion of sexual practices and its promotion of condom use, leading to calls for Koop's resignation.<ref>{{cite web|date=October 22, 1986|title=The C. Everett Koop Papers: AIDS, the Surgeon General, and the Politics of Public Health|url=https://profiles.nlm.nih.gov/ps/retrieve/Narrative/QQ/p-nid/87|access-date=September 23, 2009|publisher=Profiles.nlm.nih.gov}}</ref> Koop also infuriated some former supporters by advocating sex education in schools, possibly as early as the third grade, including later instruction regarding the proper use of condoms to combat the spread of AIDS.  While a straightforward telling to the public about the disease was controversial, Koop was also criticized by some health activists who claimed that his office had not gone far enough to develop a cure or vaccine, reducing his office's role in educating the public on health concerns.{{citation needed|date=July 2021}}

===Disability===
In April 1982, a child born in [[Bloomington, Indiana]], was diagnosed with [[Down syndrome]] as well as [[esophageal atresia]] with [[tracheoesophageal fistula]]. Six days later, after court involvement and parental discussion involving disagreement among physicians about whether or not to treat the baby or let him die, the baby died, having been denied surgical treatment to correct his esophageal atresia and tracheoesophageal fistula. Baby Doe, as he would be known, became a symbol for newborns with congenital disabilities, children with disabilities, and the debate over infanticide. Koop was not initially involved with the Baby Doe case but had a special interest in it. As a pediatric surgeon in Philadelphia, he and his colleagues had operated on 475 such babies during his 35 years there, with ever-increasing survival rates. During his last eight years in active practice, Koop never lost a full-term baby upon whom he had operated to correct esophageal atresia. Due to this background, he became actively involved in championing policies to protect the rights of newborns with disabilities, which led to Congress passing the [[Baby Doe Amendment]].

=== Style ===
These four issues, combined with Koop's personality and his willingness to make use of mass media, brought to the office of Surgeon General a higher public profile than it previously had; he is, for instance, the first Surgeon General to have been the subject of a popular song: "[[Broadway the Hard Way#Music and lyrics|Promiscuous]]" by [[Frank Zappa]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/song/promiscuous-mt0028793613|title = Promiscuous - Frank Zappa &#124; Song Info &#124; AllMusic| website=[[AllMusic]] }}</ref> He was interviewed by [[Ali G]] for comedic effect.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Windolf |first=Jim |title=Ali G For Real REAL  |url=https://archive.vanityfair.com/article/2004/8/ali-g-for-real |access-date=2024-03-13 |website=Vanity Fair {{!}} The Complete Archive |language=en-US}}</ref>

Koop was well known for his [[Shenandoah (beard)|mustache-less beard]] and colorful [[bow tie]]s.{{Citation needed|date=July 2020}} He was a [[Vice admiral (United States)|vice admiral]] in the [[U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps]] (U.S. PHSCC).<ref name="Bloomberg death"/> During much of his day-to-day work, Koop wore the surgeon general's U.S. PHSCC uniform, a uniform similar to that of a [[Vice admiral (United States)|vice admiral]]'s in the [[U.S. Navy]]. During his tenure, he re-instated the daily wearing of the PHS uniform by the officers of the PHS.{{Citation needed|date=July 2020}}

==Later career==
Following his career as Surgeon General, Koop was on The Firestorm Solutions Expert Council.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.firestorm.com/en/cms/?800 |title=Firestorm Solutions – Surgeon General C. Everett Koop Joins Firestorm Expert Council |publisher=Firestorm.com |access-date=September 23, 2009 |archive-date=October 8, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091008064433/http://firestorm.com/en/cms/?800 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Koop hosted a documentary series in 1991, simply titled ''[[C. Everett Koop, M.D.]]'' It aired for six episodes on [[NBC]].<ref>{{cite news|last=Goodman |first=Walter |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D0CE7DB123DF937A35755C0A967958260 |title=Review/Television; Health Care of America's Children |work=The New York Times |date=June 4, 1991 |access-date=September 23, 2009}}</ref>

Koop and other investors established drkoop.com in 1997, during the [[dot-com bubble]].<ref name="USA Today death" /> This medical information website was one of the first major online sources of health information. Critical review of the site content revealed that many of the private care listings, medicinal recommendations, and medical trial referrals were paid advertisements. The company went bankrupt in 2001.<ref name="USA Today death" /> Koop continued to endorse [[Life Alert]] bracelets for the elderly.

In 1999, while testifying before Congress, Koop minimized concerns from health groups about the severity of allergies relating to the use of latex gloves.<ref name="Bloomberg death" /> It was later discovered that a company that manufactured latex gloves had previously paid Koop $650,000 for consulting work.<ref name="Bloomberg death" />

Koop held three professorships at [[Dartmouth Medical School]], where he was also the senior scholar at the C. Everett Koop Institute.<ref name="Dartmouth School of Medicine bio" />

==Personal life==
In early 1968, Koop's son David was killed in a rock climbing accident on [[Cannon Mountain (New Hampshire)|Cannon Mountain]] during his junior year at Dartmouth College. Koop later wrote that because of his son's death, he thought, "I might be better able to help parents of dying children, but for quite a while I felt less able, too emotionally involved. And from that time on, I could rarely discuss the death of a child without tears welling up into my eyes."<ref name="memoir">''Koop: The Memoirs of America's Family Doctor'', Charles Everett Koop, HarperPaperbacks Mar 1, 1993, p. 126</ref> Years later, he and his wife wrote a book called ''Sometimes Mountains Move'' to help others who had lost a child. Koop's son, the Reverend Norman Koop, attended [[Eastern University (United States)|Eastern Baptist College]] (now Eastern University) and graduated in 1969. The following year, the elder Koop was elected to the board of trustees, becoming the first non-Baptist member of the board.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.eastern.edu/node/2220 |title=Eastern University |access-date=June 18, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140112042332/http://www.eastern.edu/node/2220 |archive-date=January 12, 2014 |url-status=dead |df=mdy-all }}</ref>

In February 2007, Elizabeth Koop, his wife of nearly 70 years, died.{{Citation needed|date=July 2020}}  On April 17, 2010, he married Cora Hogue, a former staff member of [[Tenth Presbyterian Church]] in Philadelphia.{{Citation needed|date=July 2020}}

==Death and legacy==
At a November 2010 news conference, Koop spoke from a wheelchair and said that he was "very, very deaf" and [[legally blind]].<ref name="Washington Post press conference">{{cite news|last=Brown|first=David|title=AIDS is 'forgotten epidemic,' Koop says|url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/11/17/AR2010111706552.html|newspaper=Washington Post|date=November 18, 2010|access-date=June 17, 2019}}</ref> Koop died on February 25, 2013, at the age of 96 at his home in [[Hanover, New Hampshire]].<ref name="USA Today death">{{cite news|last=Palmer|first=Kim|title=Former surgeon general C. Everett Koop dead at age 96|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/02/25/surgeon-general-koop/1947347/|newspaper=USA Today|date=February 25, 2013}}</ref> According to a Koop aide, he had been ill for several months and had suffered [[kidney failure]] the previous week.<ref name="VTDigger-Valley News">{{cite news|last=Brubeck|first=Sarah|title=Nation's former top doctor and Dartmouth legend C. Everett Koop dies|url=http://vtdigger.org/2013/02/26/nations-former-top-doctor-c-everett-koop-dies/|newspaper=VTDigger.org via Valley News|date=February 26, 2013}}</ref>  No official determination of cause of death has yet been announced.{{Current event inline|date=February 2020}}<ref name="slate">{{cite news|title=RIP, C. Everett Koop|author=Josh Voorhees|date=February 25, 2013|work=Slate|url=http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2013/02/25/c_everett_koop_former_surgeon_general_dead_at_96.html}}</ref>

Remarking on Koop's death, [[American Medical Association]] president Jeremy Lazarus commented, "Because of what he did, and the way he did it, he had a dramatic impact on public health."<ref name=rembering>{{cite magazine|title=Remembering Dr. C. Everett Koop, America's Doctor|author=Alice Park|date=February 27, 2013|magazine=Time|url=https://healthland.time.com/2013/02/27/remembering-dr-c-everett-koop-americas-doctor/|access-date=February 27, 2013}}</ref>  The Associated Press called his impact "great",<ref name="slate"/>  while ''[[The Philadelphia Inquirer]]'' called him "a courageous and brilliant pediatric surgeon who pioneered techniques ... and became an outspoken surgeon general".<ref name="Inquirer">{{cite news|title=Gallery : C. Everett Koop, 96, former surgeon general with deep Philadelphia roots|author=Andy Wallace|work=The Philadelphia Inquirer|date=February 26, 2013|url=http://www.philly.com/philly/news/20130226_C__Everett_Koop__96__former_surgeon_general_with_deep_Philadelphia_roots.html}}</ref>  Writing for ''[[The New Yorker]]'', [[Michael Specter]] said, "I don't think I have ever met anyone for whom I had more respect... In this era, during which progress, facts, and science are under unrelenting siege, it is thrilling to remember that even ideologues can love the truth."<ref>{{cite magazine|title=Postscript: C. Everett Koop, 1916–2013|author=Michael Specter|magazine=The New Yorker|date=February 26, 2012|url=http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/newsdesk/2013/02/postscript-c-everett-koop-1916-2013.html|access-date=February 27, 2012|author-link=Michael Specter}}</ref>

==In popular culture==
*In ''[[The Simpsons]]'' season 5, episode 1, "[[Homer's Barbershop Quartet]]", Koop is mentioned in the episode as the subject of a song sung by Homer's group.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://decider.com/2017/10/01/the-5-best-simpsons-premieres-and-where-to-stream-them/ | title=The 5 Best 'Simpsons' Premieres and Where to Stream Them &#124; Decider | date=October 2, 2017 }}</ref> '' [[The Simpsons]] '' season 12, episode 16 ''[[Bye Bye Nerdie]]'' features Koop as a member of the audience in the final scene, where Lisa demonstrates her findings about bullies.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://simpsonswiki.com/wiki/Bye,_Bye,_Nerdie/Appearances| title=Bye, Bye, Nerdie/Appearances}}</ref>
* In ''[[Futurama]]'' season 4, episode 16, "[[Three Hundred Big Boys]]", a brand of cigars known as "Royal Kooparillo" shows the likeness of Koop. Koop's likeness appears again in season 8, episode 9, "[[Fry Am the Egg Man]]", as the head on Fry's Pez dispenser of heart attack medicine.
* In ''[[Seinfeld]]'' season 3, episode 18, "[[The Boyfriend (Seinfeld)]]", Part II, Jerry likens Elaine to C. Everett Koop, because she breaks up with Keith Hernandez for being a smoker.
* In ''[[King of the Hill]]'' season 1, episode 6, "Hank's Unmentionable Problem", Peggy watches an advertisement on TV featuring C. Everett Koop. Later she dreams of Hank's funeral, in which C. Everett Koop is giving the eulogy. In season 9, episode 3, "Death Buys a Timeshare", Cotton asks Bill who he thinks is uglier, Hank's wife or C. Everett Koop
* In ''[[Psych]]'' season 2, episode 7, "If You're So Smart, Then Why Are You Dead?", the Headmaster of a prestigious high school explains that Shawn and Gus beat out C. Everett Koop for the position of annual guest lecturer, in which they taught a class on paranormal studies. According to the Headmaster, "[Koop] was crushed he didn't get it."
*In Golden Girls season 4, episode 15, “Valentine’s Day”

==Awards and honors==
[[File:C. Everett Koop (26939048052).jpg|thumb|Koop in U.S. Public Health Service uniform]]
* [[Public Health Service Distinguished Service Medal]]
* [[Public Health Service Meritorious Service Medal]]
* [[Surgeon General's Medallion]]
* [[Surgeon General's Exemplary Service Medal]]
* [[Public Health Service Citation Medal]]
* [[Public Health Service Outstanding Unit Citation]]
* [[Presidential Medal of Freedom]] (1995)<ref name="Dartmouth School of Medicine bio"/>
* [[Public Health Service Foreign Duty Award]]
* [[Public Health Service Regular Corps Ribbon]]
* [[Légion d'Honneur]] (1980)<ref name="Dartmouth School of Medicine bio"/>
* [[Order of Merit of Duarte, Sánchez and Mella]], the highest award of the Dominican Republic
* [[Association of Military Surgeons of the United States]] with gold star
* [[Denis Browne Gold Medal]] by the British Association of Paediatric Surgeons<ref name="Dartmouth School of Medicine bio"/>
* William E. Ladd Gold Medal of the American Academy of Pediatrics<ref name="Dartmouth School of Medicine bio"/>
* [[Fellow of the American College of Surgeons]] (FACS)
* [[Royal College of Surgeons of England]] (1982)
* [[Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow]] (1987)
* [[Royal Society of Medicine]] (1997)
* Honorary [[Fellowship of the Royal College of Surgeons]] of Edinburgh (HonFRCS) (2009)
* U.S. Senator John Heinz Award for Greatest Public Service by an Elected or Appointed Official (1988 [[Jefferson Awards for Public Service|Jefferson Award]])<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.jeffersonawards.org/pastwinners/national | title=National | access-date=August 5, 2013 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101124043935/http://jeffersonawards.org/pastwinners/national | archive-date=November 24, 2010 | url-status=dead }}</ref>
* [[Public Welfare Medal]] from the [[National Academy of Sciences]] (1990)<ref name=PublicWelfare>{{cite web|title=Public Welfare Award |url=http://www.nasonline.org/site/PageServer?pagename=AWARDS_pwm |publisher=National Academy of Sciences |access-date=February 18, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110604024100/http://www.nasonline.org/site/PageServer?pagename=AWARDS_pwm |archive-date=June 4, 2011 |df=mdy }}</ref>
* [[Albert Schweitzer Prize for Humanitarianism]] (1991)<ref name="NYT Albert Schweitzer Prize">{{cite news|last=Brozan |first=Nadine|title=Chronicle|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/10/25/style/chronicle-356691.html|newspaper=The New York Times|date=October 25, 1991}}</ref>
* [[Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement]] (1991)
*[[Emmy Award]] in the News and Documentary category for "C. Everett Koop, MD," a five-part series on health care reform (1991)<ref name="Dartmouth School of Medicine bio">{{cite web|title=C. Everett Koop, MD, ScD|url=http://geiselmed.dartmouth.edu/koop/cek/|publisher=Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth|access-date=February 26, 2013|archive-date=March 1, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130301022640/http://geiselmed.dartmouth.edu/koop/cek/|url-status=dead}}</ref>
* The 2nd Annual [[Heinz Award]] in Public Policy (1996)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.heinzawards.net/recipients/c-everett-koop |title=The Heinz Awards, C. Everett Koop profile |publisher=Heinzawards.net |access-date=October 17, 2011}}</ref>
* Member of the [[American Academy of Arts and Sciences]] (1990)<ref>{{Cite web |title=Charles Everett Koop |url=https://www.amacad.org/person/charles-everett-koop |access-date=2022-03-31 |website=American Academy of Arts & Sciences |language=en}}</ref>
* Member of the [[American Philosophical Society]] (1992)<ref>{{Cite web |title=APS Member History |url=https://search.amphilsoc.org/memhist/search?creator=C.+Everett+Koop&title=&subject=&subdiv=&mem=&year=&year-max=&dead=&keyword=&smode=advanced |access-date=2022-03-31 |website=search.amphilsoc.org}}</ref>

==Publications==
* {{cite journal|last1=Bishop|first1=Harry C.|last2=Koop|first2=C. Everett|title=Management of Meconium Ileus: Resection, Roux-en-Y Anastomosis and Ileostomy Irrigation with Pancreatic Enzymes|journal=Annals of Surgery|volume=145|issue=3|year=1957|pages=404–414|doi=10.1097/00000658-195703000-00017|pmid=13403593|pmc=1465484}}
* {{cite journal | last1 = Koop | first1 = C. Everett| last2 = Hamilton | first2 = James P. | title = Atresia of the Esophagus: Increased Survival with Staged Procedures in the Poor-risk Infant| journal = Annals of Surgery | volume = 162 | issue = 3 | pages = 389–401 | year = 1965  | pmid = 5829715 | pmc=1476897 | doi=10.1097/00000658-196509000-00008}}
* {{cite journal|last1=D'Angio|first1=Giulio J.|last2=Evans|first2=Audrey E.|last3=Koop|first3=C. Everett|title=Special Pattern of Widespread Neuroblastoma with a Favourable Prognosis|journal=The Lancet|volume=297|issue=7708|year=1971|pages=1046–1049|doi=10.1016/S0140-6736(71)91606-0|pmid=4102970}}
* ''Sometimes Mountains Move'' by C. Everett Koop and Elizabeth Koop. Tyndale, 1974. {{ISBN|0-8423-6064-6}} (revised edition published by Zondervan in 1994, {{ISBN|0-310-48672-6}})
* ''Visible & Palpable Lesions in Children'' by C. Everett Koop. Grune & Stratton, 1976. {{ISBN|0-8089-0958-4}}
* ''The Right to Live, the Right to Die'' by C. Everett Koop. Tyndale, 1976. {{ISBN|0-8423-5593-6}}
* ''Whatever Happened to the Human Race?'' by Francis A. Schaeffer and C. Everett Koop.  F.H. Revell, 1979. {{ISBN|0-8007-1051-7}} (revised edition published by Crossway Books in 1983, {{ISBN|0-89107-291-8}})
* ''Koop: The Memoirs of America's Family Doctor'' by C. Everett Koop. Random House, 1991. {{ISBN|0-394-57626-8}}
* {{cite journal|last1=Koop|first1=C. Everett|last2=Lundberg|first2=George D.|title=Violence in America: A Public Health Emergency: Time to Bite the Bullet Back|journal=JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association|volume=267|issue=22|year=1992|pages=3075–3076|doi=10.1001/jama.1992.03480220093036|pmid=1290487}}
* ''Let's Talk: An Honest Conversation on Critical Issues: Abortion, Euthanasia, AIDS, Health Care'' by C. Everett Koop and G. Timothy Johnson. Zondervan, 1992. {{ISBN|0-310-59781-1}}
* {{cite journal|last1=Fries|first1=James F.|last2=Koop|first2=C. Everett|last3=Beadle|first3=Carson E.|last4=Cooper|first4=Paul P.|last5=England|first5=Mary Jane|last6=Greaves|first6=Roger F.|last7=Sokolov|first7=Jacque J.|last8=Wright|first8=Daniel|last9=The Health Project Consortium|title=Reducing Health Care Costs by Reducing the Need and Demand for Medical Services|journal=New England Journal of Medicine|volume=329|issue=5|year=1993|pages=321–325|doi=10.1056/NEJM199307293290506|pmid=8321260|doi-access=free}}
* {{cite journal|last1=Fries|first1=James F.|last2=Koop|first2=C. Everett|last3=Sokolov|first3=Jacque|last4=Beadle|first4=Carson E.|last5=Wright|first5=Daniel|title=Beyond Health Promotion: Reducing Need and Demand for Medical Care|journal=Health Affairs|volume=17|issue=2|year=1998|pages=70–84|issn=0278-2715|doi=10.1377/hlthaff.17.2.70|pmid=9558786|doi-access=}}
* ''Critical Issues in Global Health'' by C. Everett Koop, Clarence E. Pearson, and M. Roy Schwarz. Jossey-Bass, 2001. {{ISBN|0-7879-4824-1}}
* {{cite journal|last1=Koop|first1=C. Everett|last2=Mosher|first2=Robyn|last3=Kun|first3=Luis|last4=Geiling|first4=Jim|last5=Grigg|first5=Eliot B.|last6=Long|first6=Sarah|last7=Macedonia|first7=Christian|last8=Merrell|first8=Ronald C.|last9=Satava|first9=Richard M.|last10=Rosen|first10=Joseph M.|title=Future Delivery of Health Care: Cybercare: A Distributed Network-Based Health-Care System|journal=IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Magazine|volume=27|issue=6|year=2008|pages=29–38|doi=10.1109/MEMB.2008.929888|pmid=19004693|s2cid=1071332}}

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==Further reading==
* ''[[Soul Survivor (book)|Soul Survivor: How Thirteen Unlikely Mentors Helped My Faith Survive the Church]]'' by Philip Yancey. Galilee/Doubleday, 2003. {{ISBN|1-57856-818-8}}
* Petro, Anthony, ''After the Wrath of God: AIDS, Sexuality, and American Religion'' (Oxford University Press, 2015) [https://books.google.com/books/about/After_the_Wrath_of_God.html?id=SPoJCAAAQBAJ]

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
{{Wikiquote}}
* [http://oculus.nlm.nih.gov/cgi/f/findaid/findaid-idx?c=nlmfindaid;id=navbarbrowselink;cginame=findaid-idx;cc=nlmfindaid;view=reslist;subview=standard;didno=koop C. Everett Koop Papers (1933–2005)] – National Library of Medicine finding aid
* [https://profiles.nlm.nih.gov/QQ/ The C. Everett Koop papers] – Profiles in Science, National Library of Medicine, [[National Institutes of Health]]
* [http://dms.dartmouth.edu/koop/cek/ Biography] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080509182151/http://dms.dartmouth.edu/koop/cek/ |date=May 9, 2008 }} from the C. Everett Koop Institute at Dartmouth College
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20130215140051/http://www.surgeongeneral.gov/about/previous/biokoop.html C. Everett Koop (1982–1989)] – biography from the Office of the
* [https://archive.today/20130411072906/https://www.lifestory.com/StoryDetail/SearchStoryDetail/C.%20Everett.Koop?LifeStoryID=20132_05a2313c-123f-47bf-90c7-1ce4cc4fae0c C. Everett Koop – His Legacy] at [https://archive.today/20130411071203/https://www.lifestory.com/Home/MyStories LifeStory.com]
* {{C-SPAN|236}}

{{US Surgeons General}}
{{Calderone Prize laureates}}
{{Denis Browne Gold Medal winners}}
{{Authority control}}

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