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Nicotine Patches, Gum No Help
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Medpagetoday.com REPORTS HERE that "smokers are no more likely to give up cigarettes for good by using nicotine replacement products such as patches and gum than if they did not use those quit-smoking aids, a prospective cohort study showed."

"Compared with people who did not use nicotine replacement products, the likelihood that they'd take up smoking again was no lower among individuals who used patches or gum for the recommended time of more than six weeks, regardless of whether they also had counseling by a healthcare professional or not …."

"Nor were the odds of smoking relapse changed by use of the nicotine products for any length of time -- less than or more than six weeks -- either with counseling or without help from a professional, the researchers reported…"

"The results of this representative study of recent quitters raise serious questions regarding the population-level effectiveness of widely popular smoking cessation medications used with or without behavioral counseling," Alpert and colleagues stated.

"Smoking cessation aids have been available over the counter for more than 15 years, and their use has been recommended by the Department of Health and Human Services, based on successful short-term results in randomized studies."

"However, the decline in smoking prevalence has leveled off in the past few years, and the ratio of ex-smokers to ever-smokers has been unchanged for almost the entire time these products have been available."

"Heavy smokers were those who had their first cigarette within one half-hour of rising and smoked more than 20 cigarettes daily."

"The lowest risk was for those who had remained abstinent for at least six months."

"The authors pointed out that comprehensive, population-based tobacco control programs led to major reductions in smoking in the U.S. prior to the growth of cessation medications. For instance, Massachusetts and California saw 50% to 60% decreases in consumption with these programs. Funding ineffective services, such as cessation medications, that aim to change individual behavior has meant a steep decline in money spent on public programs that have been demonstrably effective, such as mass-media campaigns and no-smoking laws, they said."

 
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Published 04/30/2012 - 3:14 p.m.  CDT

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CLICK HERE to urge your legislators to cosponsor the bill.
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Original clinical study reports, which contain far more detail than published randomized trials, should be made available to independent researchers seeking to verify efficacy and safety claims.

In support of this argument, the history of the influenza antiviral oseltamivir (Tamiflu), which was approved by the FDA in 1999, was cited. The widespread belief in oseltamivir's efficacy, was based on a meta-analysis of 10 trials conducted by the manufacturer prior to licensure.  But the authors pointed out that the FDA, which was aware of these clinical trials, concluded that oseltamivir had not been shown to reduce complications and required a statement on the drug's label to that effect.  Moreover, oseltamivir was not given an FDA indication for prevention of spread of influenza.

To this, [authors] commented, "If FDA is right, the drug's effectiveness may be no better than aspirin or acetaminophen.'"

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CLICK HERE to urge your legislators to cosponsor the bill.

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