NEW JERSEY, June 3, 2002: A study released this month in the American Journal of Public Health says that there is a product that is used by nearly one third of the world's population aged 15 and older that will kill 10 million people by the 2030s.1

This product has been linked to the development of many health problems, including cardiovascular disease, respiratory problems, even lung cancer. And most of the people who use the product are from low to middle income households.

Some scary statistics indeed. Stats that raise serious questions: How did this product ever get approved? Is there anything being done about it? What about our obligation to help maintain public health?

Obviously, we at RxME are talking about cigarettes.

And we think it's time for the Rx community to draw the line in the sand and say: Enough is enough. We're tired of the toll that this "product" is taking on human life. And we're tired of people comparing "big pharma" to "big tobacco." Likening the two industries is insulting.

The sad fact is that since it's not considered a drug, the cigarette is not subject to FDA regulations. We're not sure that it should be.

But given the heat that the Rx industry is getting, an industry that is committed to improving the health and well being of people around the globe, we think it's time to direct some of the heat toward industries that are not working in the interests of public health.

The last straw for us? A study surfaced last week showing that a mutimillion dollar advertising campaign funded by the cigarette industry designed to discourage smoking among the younger demographic -- actually encourages it.2

The cigarette manufacturers pulled an end-around. Banned from advertising the product on television, "big tobacco" was forced to run anti-smoking ads as part of a huge settlement. Sounds good. But now that we've got proof that the ads actually encourage smoking, we think that this is time to stand up and say enough.

Could you imagine the outcry from our critics if there was even one study that demonstrated pharmaceutical marketing or advertising leads to inappropriate prescribing, or worse yet, promotes behavior linked to heart disease, emphysema, lung cancer and death -- and targets young, impressionable, low-income citizens?

Our industry has even tried to help -- with nicotine patches -- which, by the way, are considered "drugs" and are regulated by the FDA. Further, "big pharma" makes drugs that treat cardiovascular and respiratory problems -- problems frequently caused by smoking.

Sure, you can blame it on the public -- no one is forcing people to smoke. But at the DTC National Conference in April, former FDA commissioner David Kessler suggested that to deal with the attention and criticism being leveled at our industry, we owe it to ourselves to do more for the public health. If we're to consider that and interpret that suggestion correctly, we think it's time to show the public just which industry is the "bigger" one -- the one actually committed to public health.

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