Scott Gottlieb has shown that he understands the problems with the
Obama administration’s treatment of the issue. Next, he must correct
them.
On July 28, new Food and Drug Administration commissioner Scott Gottlieb announced a bold shift in the way the FDA regulates tobacco, e-cigarettes, and nicotine. Dr. Gottlieb should be applauded for endorsing a scientific reality that has been well understood for decades but largely ignored by tobacco-control groups and U.S. policymakers: People smoke for the nicotine but die from the tar and carbon monoxide produced by combustion.
Gottlieb’s approach also recognizes that despite a relentless, 50-year anti-smoking campaign mounted by all levels of government, there are still about 40 million American smokers. The Centers for Disease Control estimates that more than 480,000 of those smokers will die prematurely every year if tobacco-control policy continues along its half-century path of ever more punitive taxes on tobacco products and restrictions on the ability of consumers to buy and use them.
“As a physician who cared for hospitalized cancer patients, and as a cancer survivor myself, I saw first-hand the impact of tobacco,” said Gottlieb. “And I know all too well that it’s cigarettes that are the primary cause of tobacco-related disease and death. What’s now clear is that FDA is at a unique moment in history, with profound new tools to address this devastating impact.
” President Trump’s new FDA commissioner acknowledged that nearly 500,000 American smokers are dying prematurely each year not because of the nicotine they consume but because of the cigarettes through which they consume it. “The overwhelming amount of the death and disease attributable to tobacco is caused by addiction to cigarettes. Addiction causes long-term sustained use. But it’s exposure to the harmful chemicals [from combustion] that causes disease.”
On July 28, new Food and Drug Administration commissioner Scott Gottlieb announced a bold shift in the way the FDA regulates tobacco, e-cigarettes, and nicotine. Dr. Gottlieb should be applauded for endorsing a scientific reality that has been well understood for decades but largely ignored by tobacco-control groups and U.S. policymakers: People smoke for the nicotine but die from the tar and carbon monoxide produced by combustion.
Gottlieb’s approach also recognizes that despite a relentless, 50-year anti-smoking campaign mounted by all levels of government, there are still about 40 million American smokers. The Centers for Disease Control estimates that more than 480,000 of those smokers will die prematurely every year if tobacco-control policy continues along its half-century path of ever more punitive taxes on tobacco products and restrictions on the ability of consumers to buy and use them.
“As a physician who cared for hospitalized cancer patients, and as a cancer survivor myself, I saw first-hand the impact of tobacco,” said Gottlieb. “And I know all too well that it’s cigarettes that are the primary cause of tobacco-related disease and death. What’s now clear is that FDA is at a unique moment in history, with profound new tools to address this devastating impact.
” President Trump’s new FDA commissioner acknowledged that nearly 500,000 American smokers are dying prematurely each year not because of the nicotine they consume but because of the cigarettes through which they consume it. “The overwhelming amount of the death and disease attributable to tobacco is caused by addiction to cigarettes. Addiction causes long-term sustained use. But it’s exposure to the harmful chemicals [from combustion] that causes disease.”
on Wed, 08/16/2017 - 20:53 admin
