The houses of medicine and public health
need to heal their own deep rifts in order to present a united
front to interests that threaten to derail a proposed settlement with
the tobacco industry, warned the American Medical Association (AMA) and
US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently.
During the National Conference on Cardiovascular
Health: Coming Together for the 21st Century, Lonnie Bristow, MD,
secretary-treasurer of the AMA, and Mitchell Zeller, associate
commissioner for policy at the FDA, agreed most strongly on the point
that good legislation is possible only if doctors, public health
officials, and policy makers work together to get the most they can
from the tobacco industry while it appears vulnerable.
The FDA has already begun to regulate the sale of cigarettes, said
Zeller. A pilot project to "sting" retailers who sell
cigarettes to minors has proven so successful that the agency is poised
to extend it to all 50 states, he said.
On the negative side, the power of the tobacco lobby continues to make
itself felt. Earlier this year, Congress refused to appropriate the $34
million the agency asked for to enforce tobacco regulations. In fact,
the Senate, with powerful pro-tobacco members, approved only $5
million. But grassroots lobbying by public health officials changed
minds, and the money was passed, Zeller said.
But in a recent conference committee to resolve differences between
House and Senate bills, only $18 million in new funds was found to fund
the enforcement. The agency was forced to take $16
© 1998 American Heart Association, Inc.
Cardiovascular News
Future of Proposed Tobacco Settlement Looks Hazy