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Is There a Silver Lining in a Dark Cloud?
From a public health perspective, there are many reasons to be concerned about the outcome of Tuesday ’s election. However, there is one reason to potentially be encouraged. With a Trump presidency, and with Republican control of the Senate, we ironically have a tremendous opportunity to once and for all craft a sensible regulatory strategy for electronic cigarettes and vaping products.The Rest of the StoryAlthough the issue was not directly addressed during the campaign, I would expect President-elect Trump to be supportive of vaping products and especially of the thousands of small businesses that are likely going to b...
Source: The Rest of the Story: Tobacco News Analysis and Commentary - November 10, 2016 Category: Addiction Source Type: blogs

Last Chance to Register for Regulations for E-Cigarettes Conference
An exciting conference -Regulations for E-Cigarettes - will be held December 6-7 in Alexandria, VA. This is the inaugural Regulations for E-Cigarettes event, and it will focus on the complex regulations facing the electronic cigarette and vaping industries. It is of particular interest to those in the e-cigarette, testing, research, public health, and public policy fields. I will be speaking on the FDA ' s e-cigarette deeming regulations. I urge everyone to consider attending. The agenda and registration information are availablehere. (Source: The Rest of the Story: Tobacco News Analysis and Commentary)
Source: The Rest of the Story: Tobacco News Analysis and Commentary - November 10, 2016 Category: Addiction Source Type: blogs

Investigators Botch Interpretation of New E-Cigarette Study Results; American Academy of Pediatrics Misrepresents the Findings
This study makes one of the cardinal mistakes of causal inference: assuming that correlation in a cross-sectional study equals causation. The fact that there is an association between the use of flavored e-cigarettes and higher susceptibility to smoking does not demonstrate that the use of e-cigarettes increases susceptibility to smoking. Because the data are cross-sectional, it could alternatively be the case that higher susceptibility to smoking causes youth to experiment with e-cigarettes.In other words, the direction of this relationship could go either way: from e-cigarettes to an intention to smoke or from an intenti...
Source: The Rest of the Story: Tobacco News Analysis and Commentary - November 7, 2016 Category: Addiction Source Type: blogs

Why are CDC and the FDA Incapable of Telling the Truth? E-Cigarettes are NOT a Form of Tobacco Use
In anarticle published Friday in the journalTobacco Control, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ' s (CDC) Office on Smoking and Health and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) indicated that electronic cigarettes are simply another form of " tobacco use. " The article noted that 68% of electronic cigarette users vape flavored e-liquids and concluded that: " It is important for tobacco prevention and control strategies to address all forms of tobacco use, including flavoured tobacco products. "The Rest of the StoryVaping is not a form of tobacco use. Electronic cigarettes do not contain any t...
Source: The Rest of the Story: Tobacco News Analysis and Commentary - October 31, 2016 Category: Addiction Source Type: blogs

RegulatorWatch Segment on the Vaping Controversy - Part Two
Here is the second part of a two-part series in which Brent Stafford interviews me about the vaping controversy. Brent did a fantastic job of covering all of the key issues in the debate, and I tried to explain the scientific reasoning behind my position on the major points of contention. (Source: The Rest of the Story: Tobacco News Analysis and Commentary)
Source: The Rest of the Story: Tobacco News Analysis and Commentary - October 17, 2016 Category: Addiction Source Type: blogs

RegulatorWatch Segment on the Vaping Controversy
Here is the first part of a two-part series in which Brent Stafford interviews me about the vaping controversy. Brent did a fantastic job of covering all of the key issues in the debate, and I tried to explain the scientific reasoning behind my position on the major points of contention. (Source: The Rest of the Story: Tobacco News Analysis and Commentary)
Source: The Rest of the Story: Tobacco News Analysis and Commentary - October 14, 2016 Category: Addiction Source Type: blogs

Why is the Massachusetts Health Council Helping Coca-Cola in its Marketing of Soda?
This coming Tuesday, the Massachusetts Health Council will be hosting its annual " Dining with the Stars "awards gala. One organization that should not be getting any public health awards is the Massachusetts Health Council itself. While the Council ' s mission is to promote " prevention and wellness, " it is actually helping the soda industry to market the very products which are contributing significantly to the nation ' s obesity epidemic.The Rest of the StoryIf you look at the list of sponsors of the Massachusetts Health Council ' s awards gala, you ' ll find a long list of health organizations, including my own Boston...
Source: The Rest of the Story: Tobacco News Analysis and Commentary - October 13, 2016 Category: Addiction Source Type: blogs

Dieticians are Being Paid Off to Promote Soda Consumption and Oppose Soda Taxes, Defiling their Profession; Soda Companies Following Big Tobacco Playbook
(Note: See addendum below)Earlier this week, Dan Aaron and I published anarticle revealing that the major soda companies - Coca-Cola and PepsiCo - are using corporate sponsorship of medical and health organizations as a strategy to improve their public image and head off potential negative publicity and public policies that might reduce soda consumption. Our article focused on the sponsorship oforganizations. Today, I discuss the fact that the soda companies are also payingindividuals in an attempt to improve their public image and divert attention away from the role that their products play in the obesity epidemic.Accordi...
Source: The Rest of the Story: Tobacco News Analysis and Commentary - October 12, 2016 Category: Addiction Source Type: blogs

FDA Poised to Issue Rule that Will Be Devastating for Public Health, and Possibly Unconstitutional
It appears that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is preparing to issue a rule that would prohibit e-cigarette companies from suggesting that their products may be useful for smoking cessation. The proposed rule, asreported byThe Hill, would classify as a drug/device any e-cigarette or vaping product that makes any claims related to quitting smoking.According to the article: " The White House is reviewing a final rule from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on tobacco products. The rule aims to clarify when the FDA can regulate a product like nicotine gum as a drug or device versus a tobacco product like elec...
Source: The Rest of the Story: Tobacco News Analysis and Commentary - October 10, 2016 Category: Addiction Source Type: blogs

National Anti-Tobacco Groups File Feeble Lawsuit Against FDA While Continuing to Oppose Smoking Cessation via Vaping
Earlier this week, eight national anti-tobacco groups, headlined by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, filed alawsuit against the FDA in an attempt toforce the agency to re-issue a requirement for graphic warning labels on cigarette packs.As the lawsuit explains, here are the key facts:1. " The Tobacco Control Act became law on June 22, 2009. Section 201 required the FDA to  promulgate its final rule [regarding graphic warning labels] “not later than 24 months after the enactment” of the Act: June 22, 2011. "2. " On June 22, 2011, exactly two years after the Tobacco Control Act was enacted, the FDA promulgated a ...
Source: The Rest of the Story: Tobacco News Analysis and Commentary - October 6, 2016 Category: Addiction Source Type: blogs

IN MY VIEW: FDA is Partly to Blame for Explosion that Injured Teen on the Hogwarts Express
For several years, the FDA has been nagging us about how important it is that the agency claim jurisdiction over electronic cigarettes because of their safety hazards. Now that the FDA has that jurisdiction, it is the public health agency that is ultimately responsible for ensuring the safety of electronic cigarettes. And so far, it is doing a terrible job.This past weekend, a teenager suffered burns after an e-cigaretteexploded on the Hogwarts Express at the Universal Orlando theme park, sending a fireball in her direction. Since the FDA is responsible, upon its own insistence, for the safety of electronic cigarettes and ...
Source: The Rest of the Story: Tobacco News Analysis and Commentary - October 4, 2016 Category: Addiction Source Type: blogs

Medical School Researchers Criticize Campaigns Intended to Get Smokers to Quit
In a shocking and ironic development, a group of medical school researchers has attacked efforts to promote smoking cessation among adult smokers. Previously, I have only seen such an inappropriate attack coming from the tobacco companies. That in 2016, such an attack is coming from people in medicine, and not from Big Tobacco, is a surprising and troubling irony.In this month ' s issue ofPreventing Chronic Disease, researchers from the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louisargue that: " Vaping poses a threat to smoking prevention progress, and it is important for those in tobacco control to understand and c...
Source: The Rest of the Story: Tobacco News Analysis and Commentary - October 3, 2016 Category: Addiction Source Type: blogs

Article Defending Nicotine Replacement Therapy Fails to Disclose Author's Conflict of Interest with Big Pharma
In another example that demonstrates the hidden influence of Big Pharma on tobacco treatment policy and the extent to which many defenders of nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) are going to hide their conflicts of interest, anarticle (letter to the editor/reply) defending NRT from criticism that was published online ahead of print in theJournal of Clinical Epidemiology fails to disclose the serious conflicts of interest of its lead author.The article is a response to apaper published recently in theJournal which concludes that once one accounts for publication bias, there is no significant effect of NRT on smoking cessatio...
Source: The Rest of the Story: Tobacco News Analysis and Commentary - September 29, 2016 Category: Addiction Source Type: blogs

FDA Issues New Draft Guidance on Regulation Compliance for Certain Types of E-Cigarettes; CDC Comments
The FDA took steps yesterday to clear a big point of confusion that has arisen concerning a subset of electronic cigarettes on the market. Due to novel technology that allows nicotine to be extracted in concentrated form from potatoes, a number of e-cigarette companies have switched to using potatoes as a source of nicotine for their e-liquids. Several companies have asked the FDA ' s Center for Tobacco Products for guidance on whether they need to comply with the tobacco product regulations, since their products do not contain tobacco and the nicotine used is not derived from tobacco.Here is the relevant excerpt from the ...
Source: The Rest of the Story: Tobacco News Analysis and Commentary - September 28, 2016 Category: Addiction Source Type: blogs

FDA and CDC are Lying About the Most Basic of Facts; How Can We Trust Them on More Complex Issues?
Donald Trump is not the only one who needs some fact-checking. My analysis of the September 22article by the CDC ' s Office on Smoking and Health and the FDA ' s Center for Tobacco Products reveals that these agencies are misleading the public by lying to them about the most basic of facts: namely, whether or not electronic cigarettes contain tobacco.According to the article: " e-cigarettes were the most commonly used tobacco product by middle (3.9%) and high (13.4%) school students. Use of tobacco in any form, whether it be combusted, noncombusted, or electronic, is unsafe. "Clearly, the CDC and FDA are telling the public...
Source: The Rest of the Story: Tobacco News Analysis and Commentary - September 27, 2016 Category: Addiction Source Type: blogs