Tobacco fund only a fraction of health costs

The toll in deaths and monetary damage from smoking continues to rise, according to a recent CDC study.

By Susan J. Landers, AMNews staff. May 6, 2002.

Washington -- The latest $5 billion tobacco settlement payment to the states on April 15 closely followed the release of new findings by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showing that costs associated with smoking are actually much higher.

Each pack of cigarettes sold in the United States costs the nation an estimated $7.18 in medical care costs and lost productivity due to smoking related deaths, said the CDC on April 12. From 1995 to 1999 those losses totaled more than $150 billion each year, according to the agency.

"When people look at the settlement and think it is for complete repayment for harm done by tobacco to our society they need to look at these new numbers from the CDC and think again," said Tom Houston, MD, AMA's director of Science and Community Health Advocacy Programs. "It is very clear that the settlement is only a fraction of the economic damage that is being repaid," he said.

Smoking also continues to be the leading cause of preventable deaths in the United States, said the CDC, resulting in an estimated 440,000 premature deaths annually from 1995 through 1999. On average, adult men and women smokers lost 13.2 and 14.5 years of life respectively, said the CDC.

"The fact that nearly half a million Americans lose their lives each year because of smoking-related illnesses is a significant public health tragedy," said David Fleming, MD, CDC's acting director.

"It's important now more than ever that states and local communities put in place comprehensive tobacco control programs to stem this tidal wave of preventable deaths," he added. [...]