Modified Risk Tobacco Products:  Can They Reduce Morbidity and Mortality?

O'Connor, Richard

Thursday, August 16, 2012: 2:00 PM

2503A (Kansas City Convention Center)

Richard O'Connor, PhD , Department of Health Behavior, Roswell Park Cancer Institute, Buffalo, NY

Mitch Zeller, JD , Pinney Associates, Bethesda, MD

Conrad Choiniere, Ph.D. , Center for Tobacco Products, Food and Drug Administration, Rockville, MD

Mark Greenwold, JD , Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids, Washington, DC

Learning Objectives

At the conclusion of this presentation attendees will be able to:

Describe the public health policy issues associated with modified risk tobacco products.
Demonstrate an understanding of modified risk tobacco products and their history.
Demonstrate an understanding of the evidence base required to assess whether a product is reduced risk.

Cross Cutting Program Area(s): Non-Cigarette Tobacco and Nicotine Products and Tobacco Industry

Audience: All attendees

Key Points:

A number of new tobacco products have entered the marketplace that offer the promise either explicitly or implicitly to reduce exposure to toxicants and lower disease risk. These products raise important public health policy questions. This proposed session will discuss the history of these “modified risk tobacco products” (MRTPS), and the health messages that are associated with them that may drive their use. In response to the growing proliferation of these products and accompanying claims, the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act (TCA) grants the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) broad authority to regulate the manufacturing, distribution, and marketing of tobacco products, including MRTPs. Under the TCA, no MRTP may be marketed without an order for sale from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Educational Experience: This session will offer an overview of FDA’s published guidelines on MRTPs and the criteria outlined within to evaluate potential MRTPs

Benefits: This session will feature a moderated discussion of hypothetical reduced exposure and reduced risk products and the weight of evidence that might be needed to evaluate those claims.