Just over one month ago, I reported that the National Academies had appointed to their newly formed expert committee to review the health effects of alcohol two scientists who were principal investigators of a research grant funded by the alcohol industry to the tune of $67 million (Dr. Eric Rimm and Dr. Kenneth Mukamal). After New York Times reporter Roni Rabin exposed these conflicts of interest in an article, the National Academies announced that it had pulled both Dr. Rimm and Dr. Mukamal from the panel and would replace them. The National Academies recently announced the replacement panel ..read more

I have always thought of the National Academies (full name is the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine [NASEM]) as being a highly reputable, impartial entity that objectively reviews scientific issues by appointing panelists who do not have conflicts of interest with industry that could create the appearance of bias. The National Academies has a detailed policy that disallows panel members who have a conflict of interest by virtue of funding by industries whose interests could be affected by the results of the panel review. Well, that view of the National Academies has jus ..read more

In submitted to the FDA in response to the Center for Tobacco Products' (CTP) draft strategic plan, the American Lung Association expressed its opposition to one of the strategic goals, which was to "inform adults who smoke about the relative risks of tobacco products." This goal primarily expressed the desire of the CTP to inform smokers that electronic cigarettes are much safer than real cigarettes and therefore may be considered as a safer alternative for smokers who are unable to quit using other cessation methods. The American Lung Association does not approve of this goal, writing: "Remo ..read more

In an article published today by ABC News, a physician from the University of Maryland is quoted as telling the public that he isn't sure that smoking is any more hazardous than vaping. According to the article: "'We just cannot make a conclusion that it [vaping] is safer than cigarettes,' said Dr. Jason Rose, a Pulmonary and Critical Care Physician who is also the Associate Professor of Medicine and Associate Dean for Innovation & Physician Science at The University of Maryland."   Of course, stating that you're not sure if vaping is safer than cigarettes is equivalent to saying ..read more

The journal BMC Public Health has announced that it will be retracting a paper it published last October which concluded that the use of electronic cigarettes has helped accelerate the decline in cigarette smoking.  The study, entitled "Population-level counterfactual trend modelling to examine the relationship between smoking prevalence and e-cigarette use among US adults," analyzed U.S. population-based data on trends in e-cigarette consumption and smoking prevalence from approximately 8 years prior to when e-cigarettes became popular in the U.S. through 2019. The authors used adult cig ..read more

The American Heart Association has unveiled a new campaign which uses the hashtag #QuitLying and the website quitlying.org. The campaign is directed against "Big Vape" and it attacks e-cigarette companies for lying to the public. Among the lies that the American Heart Association claims e-cigarette companies are making are: (1) that vaping is different than smoking; and (2) that e-cigarettes can help smokers to quit smoking. They claim that the lying on the part of e-cigarette companies is "leading more people to smoking" and has "landed hundreds of e-cigarette users in hospitals." The Res ..read more

It is being widely reported in the media that there was recently a case of "popcorn lung" in Canada that was due to the use of e-cigarettes. These reports are exaggerated and inaccurate representations of a medical journal article published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal. The article reports the case of a 17-year-old patient who presented with severe respiratory failure requiring mechanical ventilation. A chest CT scan revealed a "bud-in-tree" pattern which is consistent with a diagnosis of bronchiolitis. Because the study authors had heard that some e-liquids contain a flavoring ..read more

In a public education campaign entitled "Do You Know Vape?" Idaho Public Television in collaboration with the state health districts is informing the public that: "Vaping is not safer than cigarette smoking." The campaign is also making several other alarming claims, including that: vaping causes brain, bone, and lung injury to young people; third-hand aerosol from vaping (i.e., particles that stick to surfaces) can cause "asthma, respiratory illness, increased risk of disease, headaches and increased risk of cancer"; and  vaping exposes users to metals in the lungs that can cause lu ..read more

Earlier this year, the Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction released a new guidance on alcohol use. The guidance was notable for concluding that there is a dose-response relationship between the amount of alcohol one consumes and one's risk of disease or injury and therefore, greater amounts of alcohol consumption are associated with poorer health outcomes. In particular, the guidance concluded that drinking no alcohol is safer than drinking a low or moderate amount of alcohol. The International Scientific Forum on Alcohol Research (ISFAR) has just published a stinging critique of th ..read more

A new study published just days ago in the journal Circulation reported that adults who exclusively use electronic cigarettes experience a 34% reduction in their risk of heart disease.  (See: Berlowitz JB, et al. E-cigarette use and risk of cardiovascular disease: A longitudinal analysis of the PATH study (2013-2019). Circulation 2022; DOI: 10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.121.057369.) The study used a longitudinal design, following approximately 32,000 adults over a six-year period from 2013 to 2019. E-cigarette use and tobacco cigarette use were assessed periodically, as was self-reported heart d ..read more