December 25, 2012
Mark Vander Weg and colleagues at the University of Iowa just published a paper in Health Affairs that analyzes Medicare hospital admissions for the entire country from 1990 through 2008 and estimates how hospital admissions change following passage of smokefree workplace, restaurant and bar laws. The found that risk-adjusted admission rates for acute myocardial infarction dropped 14-16 percent following implementation of new laws, with the effect growing with time. They also found a drop of 5 percent for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease following the law, growing to 17 percent at 36 months.
Confirming the meta-analysis Crystal Tan and I recently published in Circulation, they found a "dose-response" effect, with more comprehensive laws being followed by bigger drops in hospital admissions.
They also look at admission rates for gastrointestinal hemorrhage and hip fracture. They found no relationship with GI hemorrhage and a modest effect on hip fracture. as one would expect based on the biology.
December 19, 2012
Two organizations of shareholders who work on social issues have filed shareholder resolutions calling on the major media companies to get smoking out of their youth-rated films and support an industry-wide R rating for smoking. Here is their press release:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Wednesday, December 19, 2012
CONTACTS: Katherine Kassing, As You Sow, (510) 735-8144, [email protected]
Rev. Michael Crosby, Midwest Capuchin Franciscans, (414) 406-1265, [email protected]
December 13, 2012
Today the Associated Press published a long story headlined "FDA review of tobacco products grinds to a halt" reporting that the FDA has not acted on "nearly 3500" product applications and quoted several industry executives complaining about the delay as well as Matt Myers from Tobacco Free Kids saying, "They [the tobacco companies] have the burden of demonstrating that new products and product changes won't increase youth tobacco use, won't increase toxicity and won't wrongly deter people from quitting."
The AP also reported that Dr. Lawrence Deyton, director of FDA's Center for Tobacco Products, said the agency is working with companies to get more information about products and hopes the industry will be more transparent about its reasoning that product changes don't affect public health. Deyton noted that small changes in ingredients or additives can make a cigarette more addictive or harmful, continuing. "Though cigarettes seem like a very simple product - chopped-up tobacco rolled in paper ... we know that cigarettes are highly engineered. They're technologically incredibly sophisticated."
December 10, 2012
I normally do not comment on Mike Siegel's blog because he has long since lost all credibility with me as a scientist. He praises any study -- no matter how poorly done -- if it supports his ideological position that he is the one ethical voice in tobacco and trashes any study -- no matter how well done -- if it does not.
His latest commentary, on my praise for the Congressional Budget Office analysis of the effect of a 50 cent tobacco tax increase (indexed to inflation) on federal spending so seriously misrepresents my position that it warrants response.
Here is what Siegel said:
December 8, 2012
Several people asked me what Sony could do to revise its policy on smoking in movies to actually impact the levels of smoking in its youth-rated films. Here it is, with additions in italics and deletions in strikeout.