Jump to full article: AP, 2001-10-03
Author: VICKI SMITH / The Associated Press 10/3/01 6:13 PM
Intro: There is no proof that people who smoked a pack of cigarettes a day for five years and then quit are at a statistically significant, higher risk of developing lung cancer, but a health expert who testified against the tobacco industry Wednesday said he believes that's when the risk begins.
Few scientific studies have ever looked at short-term smokers, and the ones that have analyzed long-term smokers found "biologically meaningful" risk after 20 pack years, said Dr. David Burns, a professor of pulmonary medicine at the University of California-San Diego. . .
Burns is an important witness in the class-action lawsuit that some 250,000 West Virginia smokers have filed against R.J. Reynolds, Philip Morris, Lorillard and Brown and Williamson. He helped develop the proposed medical monitoring program the lawsuit seeks for symptom-free smokers who have at least a five pack-year history. . .
When initially questioned, Burns said a five pack-year history -- or the consumption of 36,500 cigarettes -- is enough to qualify as significant exposure to a known hazardous substance. That's among the half-dozen points the smokers must prove to prevail.
"The more you smoke, the more likely you are -- other things being equal -- to develop lung cancer," Burns said.
However, under cross-examination that will continue Thursday, Burns conceded that no studies have been published to define where a smoker's risk of developing lung cancer actually begins. A few were conducted, he said, but the results were inconclusive. . .
R.J. Reynolds attorney Jeff Furr painted Burns as a longtime industry foe with both a financial and political agenda.
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