Businesses that once opposed nicotine replacement therapy now sell it, the 'Tobacco Papers' reveal

Public Release: 17-Aug-2017
Study shows cigarette makers shifted stance on nicotine patches, gum
Businesses that once opposed nicotine replacement therapy now sell it, the 'Tobacco Papers' reveal
University of California - San Francisco

The use of nicotine patches, gum, lozenges, inhalers or nasal sprays -- together called "nicotine replacement therapy," or NRT -- came into play in 1984 as prescription medicine, which when combined with counseling, helped smokers quit. But in 1996, at the urging of pharmaceutical companies, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) allowed those products to be sold over-the-counter.

Now, a new study conducted by scientists at UC San Francisco reports that tobacco companies have known for decades that, without counseling, NRT hardly ever works, and that consumers often use it to complement smoking. This insight from the formerly secret industry documents known as the "Tobacco Papers" reveals why companies that once viewed nicotine patches and gum as a threat to their cigarette sales now embrace them as a business opportunity, the researchers said.

"It was surprising to discover the industry came to view NRT as just another product," said UCSF's Dorie Apollonio, PhD, associate professor in clinical pharmacy and lead author of the study. "The tobacco companies want people to get nicotine -- and they're open-minded about how they get it."

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Smoking is responsible for more than 480,000 deaths every year in the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and another 16 million Americans live with a smoking-related disease. The costs of such illnesses total more than $300 billion each year, when including both costs of direct medical care and lost productivity due to secondhand smoke exposure.

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Clinical trials show that NRT can help people quit smoking, but only if used in conjunction with counseling and in tapering doses. Over-the-counter availability of NRT made it easy for smokers to get a nicotine fix in non-smoking environments like offices and flights, for example, with the net result that they were less likely to quit.

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