October 14, 2011   Nearly every smoker hospitalized in the United States is given advice or counseling on how to quit, according to a new study of hospital records. But that finding belies what researchers consider a failed attempt, initiated nine years ago, at getting hospitals to actually help people stop smoking. The next version of the program needs to do better, experts say.

“There was no requirement, other than a box to check off that any substantive counseling was given to help smokers to quit,” Dr. Michael Fiore, director of the Center for Tobacco Research and Intervention at the University of Wisconsin, told Reuters Health. He was not involved in the current study but chairs a panel working to revise the hospital rules on smokers.

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