July 18, 2014
My UCSF colleagues just put in this public comment on the FDA deeming rule:
The Regulatory Impact Analysis Fails to Adequately Document the
Sources for the Benefit and Cost Estimates upon Which it is Based
Docket No. FDA-2014-N-0189
Wendy Max, PhD
Professor of Health Economics
Hai-Yen Sung, PhD
Professor of Health Economics
James Lightwood, PhD
Professor of Pharmacy
University of California San Francisco
July 11, 2014
July 17, 2014
According to the new sci-fi/horror film Snowpiercer (R, Weinstein), the last cigarettes on earth are Marlboro Light.
That’s what one train passenger cries out when another snaps open a cigarette case, eighteen years after the planet is flash-frozen. Other passengers stare at the two cigarettes in awe. Both cigarettes are smoked in the film.
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HELP US OUT!
While the US version of this film names Marlboro Light, other country versions (Korea, Japan, France, etc.) might name another cigarette brand instead. Philip Morris International sells the Marlboro brand in South Korea. If you have the chance to review this film outside the US, please let us know.
Be aware before viewing: This well-crafted film is extremely violent.
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Snowpiercer is a South Korea/Czech/Austria co-production, with subsidies available from all. Production companies, including finance sources, are Korean and Czech, led by CJ Entertainment (Seoul).
July 17, 2014
Eric Crosbie, Mariaelena Gonzalez, and I just published a paper in American Journal of Public Health, "Health Preemption Behind Closed Doors: Trade Agreements and Fast-Track Authority," that describes how trade agreements such at the Trans Pacific Parnership, which are being negotiated in secret, can have the effect of preempting a wide range of health and safety laws, notably tobacco control policies, which are adopted at all levels of government.
Here is the abstract:
July 15, 2014
TRANSFORMERS MAKES 3 BILLION TOBACCO IMPRESSIONS ON CHINA AND USA
In three short weeks, Transformers: Age of Extinction (PG-13) has delivered an estimated 2.4 billion tobacco impressions in China and 1.5 billion tobacco impressions in the US and Canada.
The Viacom movie has earned 72 percent of its box office outside the US so far, including a record $280 million in China — surpassing its $209 million domestic box office. About half the movie is set in (or above) Hong Kong SAR.
PRODUCT PLACEMENT IS RAMPANT
Also known as Transformers 4, the movie is a science-fiction fantasy vehicle for “Autobot” dolls marketed by Hasbro to young boys. The fourth release in the Transformers film franchise includes product placement for Bud Light, Chevrolet and Chinese brands. 
The movie also shows a bearded, veteran combat robot (“Hound”) gnawing on a glowing-red cigar 50+ times. This computer-animated character has been through several incarnations as a toy or cartoon over the past 30 years. In 2014, directed by Michael Bay, “Hound” smokes for the first time.
PARAMOUNT’S TOBACCO POLICY FAILS
July 14, 2014
We just submitted this public comment to FDA on the FDA's proposed guideline tightening up the process for evaluating substantial equivalence claims. (The proposed guideline is available here.) While we think that this is a step in the right direction, we think that the FDA needs to be more explicit about how it is handling inadequate applications. (This is different from deeming.)
FDA Should Clarify that Tobacco Products for which FDA has not Received Adequate SE Reports by Established Deadlines Must be Removed from the Market
FDA-2014-D-0800
Lauren Lempert, JD MPH
Stanton Glantz, PhD
University of California San Francisco\
July 14, 2014