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UK Government: Tobacco Will Be Kept Out Of Sight In Shops 

MPs have agreed further action to protect young people from the dangers of taking up smoking and to support smokers who are trying to quit.

At Report stage of the Health Bill in the Commons on Monday, MPs agreed the Government's proposals which mean that shops will no longer be allowed to promote tobacco in enticing multi-coloured displays. MPs also agreed to an amendment tabled by Ian McCartney MP to prohibit tobacco vending machines. The Government will take stock and consider how best to take this important policy forward.

Public Health Minister Gillian Merron said:

'Smoking continues to have a heavy impact on the health of our communities. Today's children could be tomorrow's smokers - these new plans will help to ensure they are not. Protecting young people from a lifetime of addiction and possible death and disease from smoking is crucial, as is supporting smokers who want to quit.

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UK tobacco consultation proposes possible exemptions for duty-free 

The UK government has published a consultation document on proposed tobacco control regulations which, if implemented, could dramatically affect the way tobacco is displayed in stores. According to the document, released by the Department of Health on October 13, exemptions will be imposed for the duty-free channel if the proposals are accepted. The consultation, which seeks public and stakeholder views on the proposed tobacco regulations under the Health Bill, will run until January 4 2010.

The consultation covers four sets of proposed regulations on tobacco displays, tobacco product price displays, advertising and display of tobacco products in specialist tobacconists, and requirements with regard to tobacco vending machines. One possible exemption could ensure that the needs of duty-free and bulk sale businesses are recognised. The proposed regulations could allow airside duty-free shops to display bulk tobacco provided no other products are on show nearby and that the display cannot be seen from outside the area.

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• WHITELEY v. R.J. REYNOLDS TOBACCO COMPANY  

Defendants Philip Morris Inc. (Philip Morris) and R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company (R.J. Reynolds) appeal from judgments in favor of plaintiffs in a combined wrongful death and survival action by the estate and the surviving spouse and children of Leslie Whiteley (Whiteley), a smoker who was diagnosed with lung cancer in 1998 and who died in July 2000.

This is the second appeal by defendants. . . .

On retrial, the jury rendered verdicts in favor of plaintiffs on their causes of action for false promise and negligent misrepresentation. For the personal injury claims, the jury awarded Whiteley's estate $90,640 for past economic damages, which was increased to $225,000 based on a previous stipulation. It awarded Leonard Whiteley $30,000 for pre-death loss of consortium. The jury awarded plaintiffs damages of $2,345,964 on the wrongful death claims. Deadlocking on the issue of whether there was sufficient evidence of malice to warrant punitive damages against Philip Morris, the jury assessed $250,000 punitive damages against R.J. Reynolds on the false promise cause of action. Following a limited retrial of the punitive damages claim against Philip Morris, the jury found in favor of Philip Morris. Judgment was entered against R.J. Reynolds on July 13, 2007, and against Philip Morris on November 19, 2007. These consolidated appeals followed.

Defendants urge us to reverse the judgments, contending: (1) plaintiffs were collaterally estopped by a special verdict in Whiteley I from showing Whiteley's reliance upon false statements by agents of defendants and, therefore, the trial court erred in admitting evidence of such statements by various entities and organizations alleged to be agents of defendants; (2) the jury's findings of Whiteley's reliance on false promises or other misrepresentations by defendants was unsupported by substantial evidence; and (3) the personal injury action (as distinguished from the wrongful death action) was barred by the statute of limitations.

We shall affirm the judgments. . . .

A. Evidence at the Second Trial

Whiteley's deposition testimony was presented at both the first and second trials. She testified that, in February 1998, she had what she called "chronic bronchitis" for approximately a week. It was "a cold that got worse. As the symptoms got worse, then I went to seek medical care." She saw Dr. LaMonica one time at the Ojai Valley Community Health Center. Whiteley's testimony continued as follows:

"Q. Did Dr. LaMonica tell you that smoking was, in his opinion, a likely cause of your chronic bronchitis?

"A. Yes.

"Q. Was your chronic bronchitis at that time, in your opinion, causing you appreciable pain?

"A. Yes, it was.

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MPs agree to ban cigarette vending machines and shop displays 

Leading health organisations, including Cancer Research UK, have welcomed MPs' decision to include an outright ban on cigarette vending machines in the Health Bill.

In a recent letter to the Times, the organisations urged MPs to dispense with vending machines altogether rather than simply limit access to them, as had previously been proposed.

Under the measures originally contained in the Health Bill, the machines would have been modified so that, for example, landlords would have been required to check a person's age before operating their cigarette vending machine with a remote control.

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• Counterfeit pack warning over MPs' ban on cigarette displays  

Counterfeit cigarettes could thrive under a new law forcing retailers to hide tobacco products under the counter, packaging and tobacco experts have warned.

MPs voted on Monday (12 October) in favour of a ban on tobacco displays in shops and cigarette vending machines in a move that the government believes will help stop young people taking up smoking.

Small retailers will have until 2013 to remove their cigarette displays, while larger retailers will be expected to make the changes by 2011. Vending machines will also be banned.

While public health lobbyists have welcomed the ban, retailers have warned that it will increase costs and threaten smaller shops while the tobacco industry and some in the packaging sector have argued that it will offer an opportunity for counterfeiters to have a greater hold on the market.

Chesapeake marketing manager Bob Houghton said: "Our concern would be the reduction in required print quality which is likely to lead to higher rates of counterfeiting.

"There would also be significant costs associated with the move both for the print industry and the tobacco sector."

Christopher Ogden, chief executive of the Tobacco Manufacturers' Association, said: "We believe that organised crime will exploit the ban.

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Tobacco firm had data linking cigarettes to cancer, newly discovered papers show  

Researchers have uncovered copies of sensitive internal documents destroyed by a Canadian tobacco company that could boost efforts by provincial governments suing the industry over health costs linked to smoking.

The documents destroyed by Imperial Tobacco Canada reveal the firm had scientific data decades ago showing that cigarettes were addictive and caused cancer.

"This evidence suggests that the industry wasn't sharing absolutely critical findings about addiction and the health hazards," said David Hammond, a professor in the University of Waterloo's department of health studies. "There's real potential that if they had done so, we would have had laws that saved lives implemented much sooner."

Prof. Hammond is the lead author of a review of 60 documents that was published yesterday by the Canadian Medical Association Journal. British American Tobacco, the principal shareholder of Imperial Tobacco Canada, ordered Imperial to destroy its copies of the documents in 1992. But other copies had remained in the company's UK headquarters and were included in millions of pages of information released by the tobacco industry as part of court settlements since 1998. That's where Prof. Hammond and his co-authors discovered them.

The records will likely come into play in lawsuits by three Canadian provinces . . .

Most of the records are reports of original scientific studies conducted between 1967 and 1984 by British American Tobacco. Some studies examined the effects of second-hand smoke on rats and found it was dangerous. Other research cast doubt on the comparative benefits of low-tar cigarettes, finding that smokers compensated by inhaling more intensely.

"The studies are notable both for the wide range of research designs used to examine the health effects of smoking and for the consistency of the findings," the CMAJ review says.

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U.S. report confirms smoking bans cut heart attacks  

Indoor smoking bans are effective at lowering the risk of heart attack, even among nonsmokers, by reducing exposure to secondhand smoke, a panel of U.S. health experts confirmed in a report on Thursday.

The report, produced for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, provides the most definitive evidence to date that laws that ban smoking from workplaces, restaurants and bars can reduce cardiovascular-related health problems where they are imposed.

"Secondhand smoke kills. What this report shows is that smoke-free laws reduce heart attacks in nonsmokers," said CDC director Dr. Thomas Frieden.

"But still, most of the country lives in areas that don't have comprehensive smoke-free laws covering all workplaces, all restaurants and all bars," he said.

The CDC asked the independent Institute of Medicine to review research on smoking bans and secondhand smoke after some studies suggested that banning smoking might significantly reduce heart attacks.

The panel of experts assembled for the task reviewed research including 11 studies of smoking bans in the United States, Canada and Europe showing "remarkable consistency" in the association between bans and reductions in heart attack rates, which in some studies ranged from 6 percent to 47 percent.

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LETTER: Make all public places 100 percent smoke free  

As a cardiologist and regional president of the American Heart Association in New Jersey, I remain gravely concerned about our state's safeguards against exposure to second-hand smoke, specifically as this unresolved public health issue lingers in Atlantic City casinos.

The link between second-hand smoke and cardiovascular disease is indisputable. According to the American Heart Association, an estimated 35,000 heart disease deaths annually are associated with environmental tobacco smoke.

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Report: Smoking bans protect nonsmokers' hearts 

A major report confirms what health officials long have believed: Bans on smoking in restaurants, bars and other gathering spots reduce the risk of heart attacks among nonsmokers.

"If you have heart disease, you really need to stay away from secondhand smoke. It's an immediate threat to your life," declared Dr. Neal Benowitz of the University of California, San Francisco, who co-wrote Thursday's report from the prestigious Institute of Medicine.

More than 126 million nonsmoking people in the U.S. are regularly exposed to someone else's tobacco smoke. The surgeon general in 2006 cited "overwhelming scientific evidence" that tens of thousands die each year as a result, from heart disease, lung cancer and a list of other illnesses.

Yet smoking bans have remained a hard sell, as lawmakers and business owners debate whether such prohibitions are worth the anger of smoking customers or employees.

Thursday's hard-hitting report promises to influence that debate here and abroad.

"The evidence is clear," said Dr. Thomas Frieden, head of the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which requested the study. "Smoke-free laws don't hurt business ... but they prevent heart attacks in nonsmokers."

Among the report's conclusions: While heavier exposure to secondhand smoke is worse, there's no safe level. It also cited "compelling" if circumstantial evidence that even less than an hour's exposure might be enough to push someone already at risk of a heart attack over the edge.

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American Heart Association Says IOM Report Underscores the Importance of Smoke-Free Policies to Reduce Risk of Heart Disease  

The American Heart Association supports a new national study which found that smoking bans are effective at reducing the risk of acute cardiac events such as heart attacks associated with exposure to secondhand smoke.

"This report makes it increasingly clear that smoke-free policies are having a positive impact in reducing the heart attack rate in many communities," said Clyde Yancy, M.D., American Heart Association President. "There's no question that secondhand smoke has an adverse health impact in workplaces and public environments. We must continue to enact comprehensive smoke-free laws across the country to save lives and reduce the number of new smokers."

The Institute of Medicine report, "Secondhand Smoke Exposure and Cardiovascular Effects: Making Sense of the Evidence," sponsored by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, suggests the strength of association between secondhand smoke and acute coronary events is compelling and provides evidence showing a cause-and-effect relationship between secondhand smoke exposure and heart problems.

The findings also confirm data from the 2006 U.S. Surgeon General report on the consequences of involuntary exposure to tobacco smoke that stated there "is no safe level of exposure to secondhand smoke."

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AUDIO: Studies Find Importance of Extinguishing Secondhand Smoke  

New studies out this fall are showing that heart attacks decline significantly after public smoking bans take effect. One year after passing smoking bans, communities in North America and Europe had 17 percent fewer heart attacks compared to communities without smoking restrictions, according to an analysis reported in the "Journal of the American Heart Association." After the initial 17 percent drop, the risk of heart attack declined even more in subsequent years.

Amy Barkley, regional director for the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids, says this is good news for Kentucky cities and counties that have passed smoke-free laws.

"What this says is that secondhand smoke is not just an annoyance. It is a very serious health threat and that smoke-free laws save lives."

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• New York Senators Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) Join As Co-Sponsors of The Lung Cancer Mortality Reduction Act 

Today, Lung Cancer Alliance (LCA) hailed the support of Senators Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) who have signed on as co-sponsors of a bill to establish the first ever multi-agency, comprehensive program targeted at lung cancer.

Entitled Lung Cancer Mortality Reduction Act of 2009, S.332 authorizes a five year program to reduce the mortality rate of lung cancer which continues to be the number one cause of cancer deaths both nationally and in New York State. Lung cancer causes more deaths each year than breast, prostate, colon, kidney, melanoma and liver cancers combined.

"Lung cancer affects millions of men and women everyday and we must do everything we can to fund ways to combat this deadly disease," said Senator Schumer. "I am proud to sign onto this legislation to help promote earlier detection and better disease management to improve cancer survival rates in New York State and across the country." . . .

To insure accountability, the bill requires an annual report to Congress and creates an oversight board composed of the three Cabinet Secretaries and representatives from the fields of lung cancer treatment, research and advocacy.

In addition, the bill directs the Secretaries of Department of Defense (DOD) and Veterans' Affairs (VA) to implement an early detection and disease management program for military personnel who are at high risk for lung cancer because of smoking or exposure to carcinogens during active duty.

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Institute of Medicine Report Concludes Smoke-Free Laws Prevent Heart Attacks; 

A landmark report released today by the Institute of Medicine provides powerful new evidence that elected officials have no excuse for failing to enact comprehensive smoke-free workplace laws. The IOM report concludes smoke-free laws reduce the number of heart attacks and save lives. The report also confirms that there is conclusive scientific evidence that secondhand smoke causes heart disease, including heart attacks, and finds there is compelling evidence that even relatively brief exposure to secondhand smoke can lead to a heart attack.

These powerful conclusions, reached by one of the most prestigious scientific authorities in the United States, send a loud and clear message to elected officials across the U.S. and worldwide: No excuses, no half-measures. It's time to protect everyone's right to breathe clean air by enacting comprehensive smoke-free laws that include all workplaces and public places, including restaurants and bars. There should be no exceptions or loopholes. No one should have to put themselves at risk of a heart attack, lung cancer or the other serious diseases caused by secondhand smoke in order to earn a paycheck or enjoy a night out.

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• Council panel OKs workplace smoking ban  

A proposal to ban smoking in nearly all Marion County workplaces received an endorsement from a City-County Council committee Wednesday night.

The 4-2 vote came after three hours of passionate debate about the importance of public health and the value of personal liberty.

More than 200 people, including bar owners and health professionals, packed the Public Assembly Room at the City-County Building to offer testimony. Proponents donned stickers that said, "Make All Indianapolis Workplaces Smoke Free," while opponents sported tags that said, "Save Indianapolis Bars."

The ordinance, which was introduced to the council earlier this month and has received support from leaders of the city's hospitals, would strengthen an existing ordinance prohibiting smoking in most restaurants and public spaces such as hotel lobbies.

It would extend the ban to currently exempted places such as bars, bowling alleys and private clubs. An amendment passed Wednesday reinstated an exemption for cigar and hookah bars, though licenses to operate those establishments would be capped. . . .

The changes would give Indianapolis a comprehensive ban similar to those in 11 other Indiana communities and 26 states, including Illinois and Ohio.

During the hearing, physicians from the Indiana University School of Medicine made a public health case for the ban, including the need to protect employees in workplaces where smoking is allowed.

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Report Brief: Secondhand Smoke Exposure and Cardiovascular Effects: Making Sense of the Evidence  

In 2008, the CDC asked the Institute of Medicine to convene a committee to assess the relationship between secondhand-smoke exposure and effects on the heart. The committee evaluated three relationships:

The association between secondhand-smoke exposure and cardiovascular disease, especially coronary heart disease

The association between secondhand-smoke exposure and acute coronary events (heart attacks)

The association between smoking bans and heart attacks• . . .

CONCLUSION

Data consistently demonstrates that secondhand-smoke exposure increases the risk of coronary heart disease and heart attacks and that smoking bans reduce heart attacks. Given the prevalence of heart attacks, and the resultant deaths, smoking bans save more than half a million lives each year in the U.S. alone. The savings, as mea sured in human lives, is undeniable.

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