Health News
Showing graphic photos of rotting teeth, a man with a zipper-like scar down the length of his chest and even a man with smoke coming out of his tracheotomy tube, the Food and Drug Administration unveiled this week the warnings that will be required on cigarette packages starting in fall 2012.
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Health News
New cigarette warning labels to be in use by fall 2012
Showing graphic photos of rotting teeth, a man with a zipper-like scar down the length of his chest and even a man with smoke coming out of his tracheotomy tube, the Food and Drug Administration unveiled this week the warnings that will be required on cigarette packages starting in fall 2012.The move is aimed at getting smokers to quit, which could be especially beneficial in Kentucky, where 25 percent of adults are smokers, compared to 18 percent nationwide. The state has the second highest smoking rate in the country, data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show.
The FDA hopes the images "will reduce the number of smokers by 213,000 by 2013 and save between $221 million and $630 million every year over the next 20 years," Rob Stein of The Washington Post reports. "With these warnings, every person who picks up a pack of cigarettes will know exactly what risk they are taking," Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said.
The FDA hopes the images "will reduce the number of smokers by 213,000 by 2013 and save between $221 million and $630 million every year over the next 20 years," Rob Stein of The Washington Post reports. "With these warnings, every person who picks up a pack of cigarettes will know exactly what risk they are taking," Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said.
The graphics, which represent the first time U.S. warnings have been overhauled in 25 years, are accompanied with messages such as "Warning: Cigarettes are addictive" or "Warning: Smoking can kill you." Warnings started appearing on cigarette packages in 1966, but remained limited to small text on the sides of packages and in ads. About 30 other countries, including Canada and Brazil, already require graphic warnings.
To prevent smokers from becoming desensitized to the images, the FDA plans to conduct studies to make sure the images are still having an effect. "What may seem quite shocking at the beginning, people get used to quite quickly," Sebelius said.
Several tobacco companies are challenging the move in court. They would not comment about the images, Stein reports. (Read more)
As for whether they will make a difference, Washington Post columnist Petula Dvorak polled some smokers, who seemed unfazed by the images. (Read more)
- Smokers Using Electronic Cigarettes Are Less Likely To Quit Smoking Than Those Who Don't Use The Devices, California Study Finds
The sudden increase in use of electronic cigarettes has prompted questions about whether they actually help people quit smoking. A study published online in the American Journal of Public Health found that individuals who use e-cigarettes are actually...
- Study Finds Electronic Cigarettes Help People Stop Smoking
A study has found that electronic cigarettes help people cut back on their use of tobacco, Christopher Ingraham reports for The Washington Post. The finding was part of a study published in the International Journal of Environmental...
- Graphic Warning Labels Help Smokers Remember Tobacco Health Risks, Study Finds
Study participants looked at these two images while researchers assessed how effectively they were viewed. Graphic by Penn Medicine.Graphic warning labels on cigarette packages can help smokers remember the message and the health risks associated with...
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Getting graphic labels on cigarette packages continues to be an uphill battle for the Obama administration, as a skeptical judge sided with cigarette makers who say "they can't be forced to spread the government's anti-smoking advocacy with 'massive...
- Studies Conclude Cigarette Packaging Misleading, Needs Changes
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