Chris Steele MBE is a British retired

medical doctor A physician, medical practitioner (British English), medical doctor, or simply doctor is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through the study, diagnosis, prognosis ...

and broadcaster. He was the resident doctor on ITV's ''This Morning'' daytime magazine show, where he appeared weekly from when the show first aired in 1988 until retiring in 2021. Dr Steele's son, Andrew Steele, is an international athlete competing in the 400 m for Great Britain.

Works

Work on nicotine addiction

Steele became interested in treating his patients who smoked in the early 1970s and is now recognised as an international expert in

smoking cessation Smoking cessation, usually called quitting smoking or stopping smoking, is the process of discontinuing tobacco smoking. Tobacco smoke contains nicotine, which is Addiction, addictive and can cause Substance dependence, dependence. As a resu ...

and

nicotine addiction Nicotine is a naturally produced alkaloid in the nightshade family of plants (most predominantly in tobacco and '' Duboisia hopwoodii'') and is widely used recreationally as a stimulant and anxiolytic. As a pharmaceutical drug, it is used fo ...

. He has lectured on this subject in over 27 countries around the world, making many media appearances.

Fight to have nicotine gum prescriptions paid by NHS

In 1984, he was faced with a dilemma regarding the prescribing of

nicotine gum Nicotine gum is a chewing gum containing the active ingredient nicotine polacrilex. It is a type of nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) used alone or in combination with other pharmacotherapy for smoking cessation and for quitting smokeless tobacco ...

(

Nicorette Nicorette is the brand name of a number of products for nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) that contain nicotine polacrilex. Developed in the late 1970s in Sweden by in the form of a chewing gum, Nicorette was the first nicotine replacement p ...

) for smokers who wanted help in giving up their cigarettes. At that time in the UK, nicotine gum was a

prescription only medicine A prescription drug (also prescription medication, prescription medicine or prescription-only medication) is a pharmaceutical drug that is permitted to be dispensed only to those with a medical prescription. In contrast, over-the-counter drugs ca ...

(POM). It was in fact the only POM amongst thousands that could not be prescribed at

NHS The National Health Service (NHS) is the term for the publicly funded health care, publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom: the National Health Service (England), NHS Scotland, NHS Wales, and Health and Social Care (Northern ...

expense; in other words, it was not reimbursable under the socialised medicine system that was in effect at that time in the UK. A

Department of Health A health department or health ministry is a part of government which focuses on issues related to the general health of the citizenry. Subnational entities, such as states, counties and cities, often also operate a health department of their o ...

committee, known as the Advisory Committee on Borderline Substances, recommended that Nicorette should not be allowed on NHS prescription, because it decreed that "Anti smoking preparations are not regarded as drugs." Dr Steele regarded that nicotine was most certainly a drug and a powerful one at that, and so prescribed nicotine gum on NHS prescriptions for those motivated smokers who wanted to give up smoking. As a result of "breaking the rules", Steele faced various disciplinary hearings, eventually having to present his case to a Tribunal of Independent Referees. At that tribunal a statement for the

Secretary of State for Health The secretary of state for health and social care, also referred to as the health secretary, is a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, responsible for the work of the Department of Health and Social Care. The in ...

read as follows: "Smoking is a habit it is not a disease or condition even though It may be a contributary cause of, or may aggravate, a disease or condition such as bronchitis, carcinoma of the lung, arteriosclerosis and so on." The tribunal's conclusions to "Is tobacco dependency a disease?", dated 6 July 1984, which Steele's supporters regarded as a vindication, were as follows: * "We find it ought to be so considered." * "We find that nicotine prescribed for this purpose has both a pharmacological and a therapeutic effect." * "We find that this method of treatment is the most effective that has so far been evolved."

Honours

In April 2010, Steele was appointed an MBE in recognition of his services to the medical profession and broadcasting.

Notes

References

External links

''This Morning''
at

itv.com itv.com is the main website of ITV plc, the UK's largest commercial television broadcaster which operates 13 out of 15 regions on the ITV network under the ITV1 brand. The website offers the ITVX streaming service, with sections for ITV News, ...

Living people British television personalities Celebrity doctors 21st-century English medical doctors Members of the Order of the British Empire Health professionals from Manchester Place of birth missing (living people) 1945 births {{Physician-stub