Focus
US FDA warns companies of ‘illegal’ e-cigarettes in crackdown on youth vaping
November 5th, 2018 On 12 October the US Food and Drug Administration said it had sent letters to 21 e-cigarette companies questioning the legality of 41 of their products – the latest in a series of actions to thwart e-cigarette sales to youth. Earlier, the FDA sent...
Workplace and Recovery – How US employers and employees handle addiction
November 5th, 2018 Nearly three-quarters of US employers feel guilty about how they have handled employees’ drug or alcohol addiction-related problems, according to a survey of 737 employers and employees, writes Karen Higginbottom for Forbes. The Workplace and...
Expert opinion divided over health impacts as SA legalises dagga
October 8th, 2018 Following the legalisation of cannabis for personal use in South Africa, the SA Society of Psychiatrists and the SA Medical Association warned of its addictive nature and the need for support measures to deal with dagga’s negatives effects....
WHO launches new strategy to accelerate global tobacco control
October 8th, 2018 The Conference of the Parties to the WHO Framework Convention for Tobacco Control closed its eighth session – COP8 – on 7 October after adopting a new action plan to scale up the global tobacco control agenda over the next few years.The meeting...
‘White paper’ call to action on vapour products, harm reduction and taxation
October 8th, 2018 The International Center for Law & Economics in the US has produced a white paper it describes as a call to action for economists and health policy researchers to undertake the analysis – thus far absent from the debate – needed to...
Cigarette market is soaring in Africa – UCT study
September 3rd, 2018 Tobacco companies are thriving in Africa due to weak anti-tobacco and tax laws. A study by the University of Cape Town’s Economics of Tobacco Control Project found that tobacco use rose by 44% between 1990 and 2012, writes Amy Green for...
Supporters of South Africa’s Tobacco Bill speak out
September 3rd, 2018 Following a cacophony of criticism of South Africa’s Tobacco Bill, supporters the legislation are having their say. An article in Daily Maverick outlines a campaign by the tobacco industry to thwart planned moves to control smoking and...
Urgent strategies needed to tackle US opioid crisis – Doctors have a role
September 3rd, 2018 There are many ways to tackle America’s growing opioid addiction crisis. In articles in USA Today, a behavioural economist and a chief medical examiner propose letting doctors know when patients overdose and die, in order to reduce opioid...
Fiery responses to SA’s draconian Tobacco Bill
August 8th, 2018 SA’s Tobacco Bill has met with a barrage of criticism, among other things for proposing jail for smoking in public, outlawing designated smoking areas, trampling on civil liberties and including e-cigarettes in tight controls. Public comment on...
International experts highlight ‘significant weakness’ in SA Tobacco Bill
August 8th, 2018 In a last-minute submission on the SA Tobacco Bill, international academics argue that the Bill does not sufficiently differentiate between nicotine products of widely differing risk to health. That it does not embrace the definition of ‘tobacco...
‘This should change everything’ – A performance standard for cigarettes
August 8th, 2018 Unlike many other consumer products, no safety standards have been set for cigarettes or other tobacco products. Now a performance standard proposal has been published in the British Medical Journal by Neil Collishaw of Physicians for a Smoke-Free...
Advancing tobacco regulation for public health – New FDA initiatives
August 8th, 2018 Over the past year, the US Food and Drug Administration has taken important steps towards achieving its overarching goal – a world where cigarettes can no longer create or sustain addiction, and where adults who seek nicotine can get it from less...
Plausible link between IPO and triathletes' drowning
September 7th, 2016 Heart abnormalities linked to immersion pulmonary oedema (IPO) may be a significant factor in 42 triathletes deaths during the swim portion, according to a seven-year Duke Health study. The findings are based on an analysis of autopsy reports...
UK optometrist's suspended manslaughter sentence — landmark case
August 31st, 2016 A UK optometrist who failed to spot symptoms of hydrocephalus during a routine eye test of an eight-year-old who later died has been given a two-year suspended prison sentence. The landmark case is thought to be the first conviction of an...
Face transplant patient is thriving one year on
August 31st, 2016 The severely burned firefighter who underwent the most extensive face transplant ever performed is thriving one year after his historic surgery, according to his medical team at New York University Langone Medical Centre. Unprecedented among those...