Canadian Pharmacy News and Newsletters

Smoking Cessation

Employers ponder tough tactics to Halt Smoking - June 17, 2008

"We're talking about ending an epidemic. This is a global pandemic," said Dr. Julie Gerberding, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, likening Weyers' approach to controlling an outbreak of disease.

About 45 million Americans, 4 million of whom live in California , smoke cigarettes despite more than three decades of public efforts to encourage people to quit.

A Statement from GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare on 2008 update to the US Public Health Service Guideline on Treating Tobacco Use and Dependence - May 7, 2008

We believe the 2008 update is of particular significance as it includes the addition of the Commit nicotine lozenge which can reliably increase long-term smoking abstinence. The Commit lozenge is approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to help withdrawal symptoms and cravings associated with quitting smoking, has a groundbreaking dosage selector (Time to First Cigarette) so a smoker can choose the strength that's right for them and provides low, safe doses of nicotine to ease withdrawal from cigarettes.

See Your Doc to Stop Smoking – November 29, 2007

Two researchers from the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health published a review in the November 20th issue of the Canadian Medical Association Journal, of several hundred smoking studies. They conclude that success in quitting depends on a combo of meds and non-pharmacotherapy, but that a key component is the role of the physician. Just advising a patient to quit, actually doubles their quit rates. And long term follow-up, at least one year, is critical the researchers say.

Despite recent setbacks, Pfizer Inc. (PFE) has had some successes including the new smoking-cessation drug Chantix. Before it went on sale last year, Pfizer predicted annual revenue would exceed $1 billion in 2010. The numbers indicate Chantix could reach that target early despite spotty patient-insurance coverage so far. A 5% price increase in July and a new consumer-advertising campaign could give an extra boost to sales.

Smokers More Likely to Develop Dementia - September 4, 2004

Current smokers are 50 percent more likely to develop Alzheimer's disease or dementia than people who don't smoke or who gave up smoking, a Dutch report says.

What Smoking Cost Me - August 17, 2007

Bad breath, yellow skin, and increased risk for stroke, osteoporosis, and cancer. And the financial costs of smoking are pretty ugly, too.