John Cannell

John Jacob Cannell (born June 21, 1948) is an American doctor. An anti-smoking activist, Cannell was featured in the New York Times in the 1980s for turning away smokers from his clinic in West Virginia. Cannell founded a nonprofit group to address perceived problems with educational testing. Cannell has described several hypotheses regarding the health benefits of Vitamin D and is the founder of the Vitamin D Council. Background Cannell is the son of the late imagist poet Skipwith Cannell. In 1972, he graduated from the University of Maryland, College Park with a degree in Zoology. He attended medical school at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and graduated in 1976. He is a member of the American Medical Association and became a board-certified psychiatrist in 1993. Anti-smoking stance In 1988, The New York Times reported that Cannell, a doctor in Beaver, West Virginia, had taken a "novel stand" against smoking. In local advertisements, Cannell pledged to turn away from his clinic patients who were smokers. He granted an exception to those needing emergency care. Cannell's stance received praise from some medical colleagues, while others criticised his approach as fraught with potential ethical problems.