National Working Group for ACTTION

August 27, 2010

British National Health Service Reports on Quitting with and without Assistance

The British NHS helped more smokers quit in 2009/10 than in previous years. The success rate at the 4-week follow-up period for those attempting to quit was about 50-60%, regardless of the quitting method used.

About 65% of people trying to give up smoking used nicotine replacement therapy, and 47% of them were successful.  About 23% used the stop-smoking drug varenicline (Champix). Sixty per cent of them managed to quit using the drug.

Of the 12% who did not use any kind of drug therapy, 49% were able to give up cigarettes.

North Carolina Hospitals Will Offer Tobacco Cessation

North Carolina private hospital patients who use tobacco will soon get advice on how to quit and—if they ask for it—a follow-up inquiry a month after being discharged.  The program is being overseen by the foundation of the N.C. Hospital Association and N.C. Prevention Partners and paid for through a two-year, $500,000 grant from The Duke Endowment.

The recommendation for offering tobacco-cessation products and services to patients comes from The Joint Commission, which is the nation’s oldest and largest standards-setting and accrediting body for health care.   The Joint Commission, with funding from Partnership for Prevention, is currently conducting a pilot program to assess tobacco and alcohol use as a core data-measuring requirement for hospitals, as described in the August 2010 newsletter.

Supreme Court Will Not Hear Appeal of Tobacco Racketeering Decision

The Supreme Court has denied petitions to hear from the Justice Department and the large tobacco companies on the racketeering case against the tobacco industry.  The Justice Department was appealing the decision preventing it from seeking billions of dollars in past profits from the industry and funding a national tobacco control program.   The companies were appealing the finding that they violated federal racketeering law by illegally concealing the dangers of smoking for decades.

The Court has thus let stand U.S. District Court Judge Gladys Kessler’s 2006 ruling that for the last fifty years the tobacco companies engaged in a scheme to deceive the American public about the devastating health effects of smoking and secondhand smoke, concealed evidence that nicotine is addictive, manipulated nicotine in cigarettes to create addiction, and abused the legal system to achieve their goal.

The case has been reviewed by appeals courts more than once, and the finding of racketeering violations and “countless examples of (the companies’) deliberately false statements” was upheld.  What the appeals court would not allow were penalties for past behavior.  Any penalties must be “forward looking” to stop future bad actions.

Partnership for Prevention and ActionToQuit Launch Listserv

The ActionToQuit Listserv provides a way for members to join the conversation about tobacco cessation policy and communicate, share information, and network with colleagues nationwide. We will also keep members informed about upcoming meetings, current news and research related to cessation. To subscribe to the listserv, go here and enter your name, email address, and then click the button below that reads “Subscribe (ACTIONTOQUIT).”  Join the ActionToQuit Listserv today!