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Ben Davidson
Ms. Gaskins
English 1102 KKK
6 February 2012
Big Tobacco Exposed
Jeffrey Wigand was an executive research scientist for the Brown and Williamson
tobacco company. Jeffrey Wigand was completely justified in his actions against Brown and
Williamson even though they violated his confidentiality agreement. Wigand was breaking the
law by telling these inside secrets, but moral justification surpasses these laws on all levels. Big
tobacco companies do not have the right to hide that they are using “dangerous additives like
ammonia in cigarettes” in order to boost the effects of nicotine (Leung 1). Jeffrey lost a lot of
worldly possessions and money for raising the flag on big tobacco companies. What Wigand
gained was the realization that he has helped millions of people and showed the public to what
extent cigarettes really are harmful and deadly. Although Wigand put the well being of his wife
and kids in jeopardy, he realized that the American public needed to know how much more
harmful the chemicals put into cigarettes make them, and there is nothing more important than
saving innocent lives.
When Wigand “raised the flag” on research in the ammonia chemistry studies, the
executives of the Brown and Williamson fired Jeffrey for “poor communication skills” (The
Insider). Jeffrey refused to allow Brown and Williamson to poison oblivious consumers of their
product. This refusal caused Wigand to lose his job that paid $300,000 a year, and took a new
job that only paid $60,000 a year (Leung 4). Jeffrey agreed to do an exclusive interview with
the producer of 60 Minutes, Lowell Bergman. Wigand said “that created havoc. I was sued. I
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had to have body guards” (Jeung 1). After this interview took place, Wigand was forced to
move to a smaller house, was divorced by his wife, and was no longer able to live a normal life
due to the amount of media attention Wigand received. Even after losing all of these things,
Wigand says “I don’t think I’ve been this happy in a long time…Every day, I know I’ve done
something that makes a difference for another human being. And that makes me feel good”
(Leung 4). Wigand is proud of what he did and is clearly morally justified about his actions
against big tobacco companies. Dr. Wigand was fired for no real reason and required to sign a
confidentiality agreement, so Jeffrey wouldn’t tell the public the truth about the additives in
tobacco. Wigand was entirely justified for breaking his agreement and his heroic actions of
standing up to big tobacco.
Wigand realized how harmful the cigarette additives were. In a process called ammonia
chemistry, Wigand explains that this “allows for nicotine to be more rapidly absorbed in the
lungs, and therefore, affect the brain and central nervous system” (Leung 1). Tobacco
companies used extremely harmful chemicals such as ammonia to boost the effects of nicotine.
Wigand could not stay silent; he felt morally obligated to let the public know what they are really
putting into their bodies. Dr. Wigand explains the truth about tobacco companies in his
interview with 60 Minutes where Jeffrey says that cigarettes are “a delivery device for
nicotine…you’ll get your fix” (Jeung 1). Jeffery is explaining how big tobacco sells nicotine to
people who are addicted to it. Nicotine is an addictive drug by itself, and when chemicals are
added to it, that intensifies the effects of nicotine in the body, and it becomes even more
addictive. This nicotine boost causes tobacco companies to make even more money because
they are causing more and more people to become addicted to their product every day.
Cigarettes are proven to cause cancer due to carcinogens in the cigarette. The world should
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know about harmful products that are being inhaled into the body through cigarette smoke. Dr.
Jeffrey Wigand was justified for his actions because he was breaking a law in order to save
millions of lives. A confidentiality agreement that is made for the sole purpose of covering up
the terrible chemicals tobacco companies are selling to the public should not be honored in any
way, shape, or form.
Tobacco companies such as Brown and Williamson sell a product that is extremely
harmful to the body and is also highly addictive. Before Dr. Wigand did the interview with 60
Minutes, Americans and other nations had no idea to what extent that cigarettes were harmful to
the body. By showing the public what was really in cigarettes and giving a crucial testimony in
a court case in Mississippi, “the states won a $368 billion dollar settlement from the tobacco
industry” (Jeung 2). The states had to use a percent of this to go to curing diseases called by
smoking and trying to prevent younger people from starting smoking. Jeffrey Wigand put a
dent in big tobacco and because of him, tobacco companies can no longer sell the public a
product without the public knowing how harmful it really is. Jeffrey Wigand has saved millions
of lives and opened the eyes of many Americans. Dr. Wigand is justified for breaking his
confidentiality agreement on the basis that he was obligated to tell. The American public
deserved to know the truth.
Jeffrey Wigand did an exclusive interview with 60 Minutes that changed the world
forever. Without this interview, the world still may not know about the harmful chemicals in
cigarettes. Many other scientists such as Wigand had tried to stand up to tobacco companies.
The attempts were easily bullied by the amount of money tobacco companies could spend to win
court cases and by confidentiality agreements that were legally binding (The Insider). Wigand
knew that he was morally obligated to say something and refused to allow big tobacco to bully
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him. The thought of not saying anything and just getting another job was not even an option.
Lowell Bergman’s questions were answered to the fullest and this allowed the public to know the
truth about cigarettes. Wigand was completely justified to break his confidentiality agreement
with Brown and Williamson on moral standards. Everything that Jeffrey went through was
worth the public knowing the truth. If Dr. Wigand had not stood up to the Brown and
Williamson company, he would have had to live his entire life knowing he could have made a
difference in the world and saved lives but didn’t. There is no confidentiality agreement or legal
consequences that are worth more than knowing innocent people are dying and you could help
but didn’t.
Jeffrey Wigand gave up everything normal about his life and made a sacrifice to help the
public. Dr. Wigand gave up his very high paying job and his many other worldly possessions in
order to be genuinely happy. As referenced earlier, Wigand is now happy with his new job,
which is fighting against tobacco companies and helping educate children on how harmful
cigarettes are (Jeung 4). Dr. Wigand knows he has made a huge difference in the lives of
millions and anything was worth the price he paid for that. Jeffrey Wigand was completely
justified for breaking his confidentiality agreement in his interview with 60 Minutes that allowed
the world to know about the harmful chemicals that are added to cigarettes. Dr. Wigand, along
with almost the entire world, believes that he was completely justified and obligated to tell the
public on his moral standards. Big tobacco was exposed for selling their product and putting
more harmful additives into cigarettes than there already are in tobacco. Jeffrey Wigand may
have lost a high paying job and many other nice things, but Wigand gained the peace of mind of
knowing that he has helped millions of people. The peace of mind Dr. Wigand gained
completely justifies his actions.
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Works Cited
The Insider. Dir. Michael Mann. 1999. Touchstone Home Entertainment. 2000. DVD.
Leung, Rebecca. “Battling Big Tobacco.” CBS News. CBS Interactive, Inc. 11 Feb. 2009. Web. 1
Feb. 2012.