"When David Kessler came to Washington to lead the Food and Drug Administration in 1990, the agency was at a low point, weakened by years of deregulatory fervor and by the corrupt actions of a few. And soon after taking office, the thirty-nine-year-old physician had to deal with the daily drama of murders masquerading as random product tamperings, imports of contaminated body parts from the former Soviet Union, political fights over the contents of food labels, and efforts to speed life-saving therapies to desperate patients. What was not on David Kessler's agenda was tobacco. But soon, he confronted a simple question: " Why doesn't the FDA regulate the consumer product that is the nation's number-one killer?" Everyone in Washington offered the same answer - the tobacco industry is too big and too influential. Challenging it would be a fool's errand.". "Despite the risks, Kessler and a group of unlikely heroes at the FDA began an historic journey inside the mazes of America's most secret and deadliest industry. A Question of Intent tells their story. They soon realized how enormous the task was, for the industry's reach stretched everywhere, deep into the scientific world, the legal profession, and the government. No one had ever conducted an investigation into the inner workings of the tobacco industry. Exploring every possible avenue, interviewing terrified informants, conducting forensic tests, and obtaining secret documents, the intrepid investigators found themselves aiming at the heart of the world's most powerful corporations. Armed with persuasive new evidence, Kessler entered into an intense political struggle, one that involved every branch of the federal government."--BOOK JACKET.