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Op-Ed: Misinformation is deadly for
people trying to quit smoking
By Kim Murray | Taxpayers Protection Alliance’s Consumer Center
The Oncology Nursing Society (ONS), which
represents 100,000 nurses, has an admirable goal of improving the
quality of life and outcomes for patients with cancer. The relationship
between smoking cigarettes and cancer is an essential focus for them. A
leading cause of cancer deaths in the United States is lung cancer, with
about 80 percent of those cases attributed to smoking. Unfortunately,
ONS seems to not understand the role tobacco harm reduction products can
play in helping adults quit smoking and reduce their cancer risks.
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 Information
about nicotine is a priority when healthcare providers interact with people who
smoke. In a recent survey of physicians, 80 percent incorrectly believed that
nicotine causes cancer, cardiovascular disease, and chronic obstructive
pulmonary disease. Another survey found that nearly 60 percent of nurses falsely
believe that nicotine causes cancer. Misinformation could lead to inaccurate
recommendations and failure to capitalize on teachable moments when talking to
patients.
It's not easy to quit smoking. The number who successfully stop
is outweighed by the staggering numbers of those unable to achieve this goal. It
is common to make several quit attempts in a lifetime, with the majority
continuing to smoke. Even those who do quit smoking are at risk of returning to
smoking.
In the past several years, novel nicotine (aka tobacco harm reduction) products
have entered the market, helping millions of people quit smoking. The most
popular of these are e-cigarettes. Vaping allows people who smoke to replace the
nicotine they crave and enables them to continue to experience other aspects
they enjoy about smoking in a less harmful way, including sensory feedback such
as inhaling and exhaling.
Recently, ONS reviewed its position statement on vaping. They
rightly point out that vaping is not regulated by the Food and Drug
Administration (FDA) as a smoking cessation product, but rather, as a tobacco
product. Consumers use many methods to quit smoking and many are not medicalized
or FDA-approved for cessation.
However, the ONS statement contains misinformation alluding to vaping as
potentially toxic as secondhand smoke and nicotine vapor products causing vaping
lung injuries, commonly referred to as EVALI. It also expresses concern about
what people could potentially be exposed to. At first glance, the issues feel
valid, but a deep dive into those concerns leaves the reader void of the big
picture. What is missing is putting those concerns in perspective with the risk
of vaping versus the risks from smoking.
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After their August 2022 review, the ONS statement
remains outdated. Suggestions for a minimum sale age of 21are
already on the books. Nurses are being encouraged to continue to
inform consumers about FDA-approved tobacco cessation alternatives
while exaggerating the potential harm of e-cigarettes. ONS is
ignoring the needs of people who smoke, and have been unsuccessful
at quitting smoking with traditional cessation methods. ONS also
rejects the evidence showing that people who vape have a higher
success rate at smoking cessation than FDA-approved nicotine
replacement therapies.
ONS suggests that the FDA considers vaping liquids
as hazardous to health, yet FDA has authorized the sale of several
vaping products, finding them appropriate for the protection of
public health. ONS’s false statement exacerbates consumers'
misperception that vaping is equally harmful or more harmful than
smoking and ignores FDA authorizations. About 60 percent of smoking
consumers falsely believe that nicotine causes cancer. Numerous
studies demonstrate vaping is safer than smoking, but none of those
studies are referenced in the statement. Furthermore, they offer no
recommendation to try tobacco harm reduction products to those who
have been unable to quit smoking.
In 2021, 15 past presidents of the Society for Research on Nicotine
and Tobacco published a paper on vaping which examined the risks and
benefits of vaping, found no cancer risk from e-cigarette use,
addressed the correct source of EVALI and drew attention to the role
vaping can play in smoking cessation. However, the paper ends with
the dire reminder that 480,000 Americans die from smoking annually.
Certainly, an organization like the ONS, which focuses on cancer's
devastating effects, would want to see people who smoke take
advantage of every opportunity to quit smoking.
United Kingdom Cancer Research, considered the world’s leading
cancer research organization, has published its own position
statement on e-cigarettes finding they “are far less harmful than
smoking” and that for people who smoke, “e-cigarettes are an option
to help them stop.”
American cancer organizations ought to be recognizing the benefits
as well, if they truly want to eradicate lung cancer.
Kim Murray is a Research Fellow for the Taxpayers Protection
Alliance’s Consumer Center.
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