Are smoke free hospitals unethical?July 09, 2003A recent editorial attacked a decision by the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast to build seven smoking rooms for patients and staff. In response, a letter in this week's BMJ argues that smoke free hospitals are unethical. To bar smoking for patients with smoking related diseases seems reasonable, but to coerce smokers who happen to be in hospital with an unrelated condition into accepting smoke free behaviour as a condition of their care may be questionable, writes Stephen Head, a general practitioner from Nottinghamshire. When patients have no prospect of benefit from smoking cessation, and enforced abstention aggravates their existing distress, they are being managed unethically, he says. Their best interests as a patient (which should be the medical profession's prime concern) are being subjugated to a broader policy that does them harm. He describes the case of terminally ill patient, whose last days in hospital were made worse for nicotine withdrawal. Another declined admission because he would have to give up "his one remaining pleasure." Such cases should not blunt the public health message. But making their last days more distressing than they would otherwise have been reflects an uncritical policy enforcement that adds a cruel and condescending twist to how doctors and health managers, as much as the international tobacco industry, are able to create smoking related suffering, he concludes. British Medical Journal (BMJ) |
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| Related Smoking Current Events and Smoking News Articles Women Can Quit Smoking and Control Weight Gain Many women don't quit smoking because they are afraid of gaining weight. That's because nicotine suppresses the appetite and boosts a smoker's metabolism. Cigarettes Harbor Many Bacteria Harmful to Human Health Cigarettes are "widely contaminated" with bacteria, including some known to cause disease in people, concludes a new international study conducted by a University of Maryland environmental health researcher and microbial ecologists at the Ecole Centrale de Lyon in France. Study raises concerns about outdoor second-hand smoke Indoor smoking bans have forced smokers at bars and restaurants onto outdoor patios, but a new University of Georgia study in collaboration with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggests that these outdoor smoking areas might be creating a new health hazard. Early end to key study on benefits of niacin, a B vitamin, in keeping arteries open was premature Heart experts at Johns Hopkins are calling premature the early halt of a study by researchers at Walter Reed Army Medical Center and Washington Hospital Center on the benefits of combining extended-release niacin, a B vitamin, with cholesterol-lowering statin medications to prevent blood vessel narrowing. Athletes on performance enhancers more likely to abuse alcohol, other drugs College athletes who use performance-enhancing substances may be at heightened risk of misusing alcohol and using recreational drugs as well, according to new research in the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs. 90 percent of Africans are not protected by smoke-free laws As African nations are poised to undergo the highest increase in the rate of tobacco use among developing countries, nearly 90 percent of people on the continent remain without meaningful protection from secondhand smoke, according to a new report released at a regional cancer conference today. Workplace BPA exposure increases risk of male sexual dysfunction High levels of workplace exposure to Bisphenol-A may increase the risk of reduced sexual function in men, according to a Kaiser Permanente study appearing in the journal Human Reproduction, published by Oxford Journals. Exposure to several common infections over time may be associated with risk of stroke Cumulative exposure to five common infection-causing pathogens may be associated with an increased risk of stroke, according to a report posted online today that will appear in the January 2010 print issue of Archives of Neurology, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. Carnegie Mellon researchers link health-care debate to risk of dying in US and Europe The current health care debate in the United States is complicated. Trade-offs between heath care expenditures, lifestyle choices and life expectancy have been suggested but seldom clearly demonstrated. Developmental delay could stem from nicotinic receptor deletion The loss of a gene through deletion of genetic material on chromosome 15 is associated with significant abnormalities in learning and behavior, said a consortium of researchers led by Baylor College of Medicine (www.bcm.edu) in a report that appears online today in the journal Nature Genetics. More Smoking Current Events and Smoking News Articles |
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