Tobacco.org

Tobacco Makers Sift Through Thousands of Documents in $1B Hospital Suit 

A 10-year-old lawsuit filed by Missouri hospitals against cigarette makers seeking $1 billion for the cost of treating tobacco-related illnesses has been stalled in discovery.

The tobacco companies are sifting through tens of thousands of records for indigent patients provided by more than 30 hospitals under a court order, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports. Daphne O'Connor, vice president and associate general counsel at Altria Client Services, says the cigarette companies have spent nearly $500,000 to comb through the electronic files.

The tobacco makers contend the hospitals "produced everything"

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Doc, others caught smoking 

Three days after the Union health ministry implemented a ban on smoking in public places, the anti-smoking squad of Delhi government caught a doctor and other staff taking a smoke in government hospitals on Sunday.

One doctor was caught smoking in hospital premises at Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital on Sunday. "We have issue challans to one doctor in RML Hospital, alongwith two group D employees, one security guard and three patients' relatives. In GTB Hospital we have caught two patients' relatives smoking," said Dr R P Vashisht, head of public health, Delhi government.

Delhi government has been carrying out anti-smoking raids in various parts of Delhi

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Cigarette sparks alert at hospital 

Fire crews from Humberside Fire and Rescue were called to Hull Royal Hospital following reports of a fire and smoke in the acute admissions ward. . . .

Fire officers discovered the source of the fire was a discarded cigarette which had set alight leaves and rubbish outside the A&E department.

A Humberside Fire and Rescue spokesman confirmed one ward was evacuated.

He said: "Somebody had been outside for a cigarette and thrown away the still smouldering butt. It landed in a gully close to the hospital wall and set light to rubbish and leaves.

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Humber | Ward evacuated in hospital fire 

Patients had to be evacuated from their beds after a discarded cigarette triggered a small fire outside a hospital in East Yorkshire. . . .

The Humberside Fire and Rescue spokesman said: "Somebody had been outside for a cigarette and thrown away the still smouldering butt.

"It landed in a gully close to the hospital wall and set light to rubbish and leaves.

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Curbs on smoking outside hospitals?  

Smokers may soon be banished from sidewalks surrounding Albany hospitals, but efforts to cut down on the curbside puffing are already under way.

Last year, Common Council member James Sano proposed legislation allowing hospitals and other health facilities to apply to the city to ban smoking within 100 feet of their campuses.

Now he's revamped the language, requiring the ban. The council has not yet acted on the legislation, but Sano said he expects it to go to the council within a month.

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Cambridgeshire | Hospital reconsiders smoking ban 

A hospital in Cambridgeshire is to reconsider its ban on smoking anywhere on its site.

Addenbrooke's in Cambridge introduced the ban in 2006 after a consultation with staff and patients.

Now hospital managers are thinking about introducing outdoor shelters because people have continued to smoke outside entrances.

They also believe it is not always a good idea to ask patients and visitors not to smoke at times of stress.

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• Indoor smoking ban leads to an outdoor problem 

The smokers who once enjoyed their habit inside now enjoy their habit outside. For bars and offices that share streets with private homes, the result has been an increase in loiterers, noise and trash.

Walk along Fort Avenue in my neighborhood or on dozens of city streets on a weekend morning and you'll see the remnants of the previous night of revelry: small piles of discarded cigarette butts outside the shuttered doors of pubs and empty beer bottles on rowhouse steps.

At night, people are stacked outside the bars, smoking under signs warning against loitering within 50 feet of the liquor establishment. . . .

The same thing happened outside the hospital that happened outside the bars. Only this time, it was secretaries, medical assistants, janitors and, yes, even the doctors and nurses, turning University Parkway near Guilford Avenue into their personal smoking lounge. . . .

Police can arrest people for loitering, but the offense is rarely if ever pursued by prosecutors. Even outside bars, the fact that the loiterers are also patrons makes the law difficult to enforce. Same thing could be said about University Parkway.

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Aspinwall neighbors fuming over UPMC smoking policy 

It took a year, but a small group of angry Aspinwall residents have finally received an encouraging response in their fight against one of Pittsburgh's most powerful institutions, UPMC.

About 15 families on Delafield Road and Lexington Avenue have protested UPMC St. Margaret's smoke-free policy since it was instituted last year. The policy prevents all staff, patients and visitors from smoking anywhere on the hospital's campus. Instead, they walk to Delafield Road and Lexington Avenue -- two residential streets bordering the hospital -- for their cigarette breaks.

Residents characterize it as a "nearly constant" flow of smokers near their property, who often discard their cigarette butts on sidewalks or lawns. The group protested throughout the past year, started a Web site, and sent letters to the hospital's administration. . . .

Dr. Gennari said the situation became so serious because the streets are "densely populated," and the workers' cigarette breaks often coincide with the time of day when children are dropped off by their school busses.

It got so bad, she said, that children began to ask their parents why doctors smoke so often.

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"No Smoking" For Hire 

Akron Children's Hospital is saying no to smokers, in a very big way.

Starting in November, the hospital is taking a ground-breaking stand on their "no smoking" policy. At this point, no one will be hired who tests positive for nicotine.

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Test case over Rampton smoking ban 

Two patients at Rampton high security psychiatric hospital have won the right to bring a test case over the smoking ban imposed on such institutions.

The two inmates - who can only be identified as G and N - are appealing against a High Court decision that Article 8 of the Human Rights Act, which relates to respect for a private life, was not engaged in the case and, even if it was, the interference was justified.

The hearing, which is due to last two days, is likely to take place in London before Christmas.

Granting permission, Lord Justice Tuckey, sitting with Lady Justice Smith in the Court of Appeal, said that the Article 8 point - and the related questions of discrimination under Article 14 - was sufficiently arguable and should be considered.

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Efforts to curb tobacco use in effect at prison  

IONIA - In an effort to improve the health and welfare of those in Ionia County, some local workplaces are making efforts to curb the use of tobacco products.

At Thursday's community liaison meeting, Dave Johnson, Bellamy Creek Correctional Facility Assistant Deputy Warden of Custody and Programs, said efforts are underway to eliminate tobacco use in the state's prisons.

Some of the methods being employed by prisons include the use of special programs, utilizing guest speakers, offering quitting aids such as lozenges and offering other items and support for inmates and corrections workers.

"We've reduced the amount of tobacco prisoners can order every couple of months," he said. . . .

Hospitals, including Ionia County Memorial Hospital, are also making efforts to curb smoking.

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Nottinghamshire | Patients win smoking ban appeal 

Two patients at a high security mental hospital in Nottinghamshire have won the right to appeal against a smoking ban on the premises.

An Appeal Court judge gave the Rampton hospital patients the right to bring a test case over the ban which was imposed in March 2007.

In May a High Court judge upheld the hospital's no-smoking policy for patients.

But the patients - known as G and N - argued it violated their human rights.

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Medical Center Joins Others in Smoke Ban 

Snuffing out smoking is the goal of a soon-to-be-announced policy change at the UVA Medical Center. In the next several weeks, hospital administrators plan to announce a property wide smoking ban that would go into effect October 1, 2009. The plan would apply to all patients, visitors and employees.

The policy change makes UVA Medical Center the fourth hospital in Central Virginia and the Shenandoah Valley to ban smoking. Augusta Medical Center hopes to be tobacco free by next summer. Martha Jefferson's anti-smoking rules have been in effect since 2007. Rockingham Memorial went tobacco free last January.

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Smoking tenant starts fire 

One man was injured and 60 others evacuated when a fire broke out in a personal-care home in Lebanon yesterday afternoon.

The fire at the American House, 25 S. Ninth St., started about 3:40 p.m. in a first-floor bedroom and was quickly controlled by employees and Lebanon firefighters before it could spread through the three-story structure, the main portion of which was constructed in 1771, according to a building stone.

Lebanon Fire Commissioner Barry Fisher blamed the fire on a tenant -- the man who was injured -- smoking while using an oxygen machine.

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Smoking on Its Last Legs at Winter Haven Hospital  

Starting Oct. 1, Winter Haven Hospital will have a smoke-and-tobacco-free policy at the hospital, Regency Medical Center and on its other campuses. That means no sneaking outside the buildings to smoke, which I've seen people do while still wearing hospital gowns.

This applies to patients, employees, physicians, volunteers and visitors, plus any category you may think of that isn't on that list the hospital spelled out.

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