Data Stream
The Smoking Gun
Minority Report
Almost half of the deaths from 12 different types of cancer
combined can be attributed to cigarette smoking, according
to an analysis of health records from the 2011 National Health
Interview Survey and Cancer Prevention Study II (a prospective mortality study led by the American Cancer Society).
Too few minorities are pursuing careers in medicine, resulting in a serious lack of diversity among general
practitioners and specialists, according to an analysis comparing representation in the U.S. GME pool, the
physician workforce, and the U.S. population. These underrepresented minority groups (or URMs) included
blacks, Hispanics, and American Indians and Pacific Islanders.
Using publicly reported data from 2012, the study authors found:
Of 16,835
medical school
graduates,
Of
345,962
Of 688,468
practicing
physicians,
Of 115,111
trainees in GME,
%
13.8
were URMs
15.3%
%
9.2
were URMs
were URMs
cancer-related deaths,
researchers estimated that
167,805
(or 48.5%) of these deaths were
attributable to smoking –
and, presumably,
preventable.
The 12 cancer types known to be caused by smoking included:
liver, lung,
colon and rectum,
oral cavity and throat,
esophagus,
larynx, stomach,
pancreas, bladder,
kidney, cervix, and
acute myeloid leukemia.
“My father graduated medical school
in 1960, and at that time only 3%
of doctors were black,” said Wayne
Riley, MD, president of the American
College of Physicians, commenting
on the study’s findings. “This study
shows 3.8 percent of doctors are
black. Over a 50-year period, we are
still nowhere near African-American
and Latino physicians representing
their percentage of the population.”
Source: Devile C, Hwang W-T, Burgos R, et al. Diversity in graduate medical education in the United States by race, ethnicity, and sex, 2012.
JAMA Intern Med. 2015 August 24. [Epub ahead of print]
High Drug Costs: The People Have Spoken
Nearly three-quarters of Americans believe that the cost of prescription drugs are unreasonable, according
to the Kaiser Family Foundation’s latest Health Tracking Poll, and most Americans – regardless of political
affiliation – support a wide range of policy actions to lower the cost of prescription drugs.
The majority of respondents supported the following potential policy actions:
Source: Siegel RL, Jacobs EJ, Newton CC, et al. Deaths due to cigarette smoking for 12 smoking-related cancers in the United States. JAMA Intern Med.
2015;175:1574-76.
26
ASH Clinical News
86%
Requiring drug companies to release information
on how they set prices
“Cigarette smoking
continues to cause numerous
deaths from multiple cancers
despite half a century of
decreasing prevalence,”
the authors wrote.
“Continued progress in reducing cancer
mortality, as well as deaths from many
other serious diseases, will require more
comprehensive tobacco control, including
targeted cessation support.”
Women, however, have successfully
made inroads into medicine: The
study found that women make up
30.1% of practicing physicians (more
than double the rate in 1985: 14%),
and accounted for the majority of
GME trainees in 7 specialties.
83%
Allowing the government to negotiate with drug
companies to lower prices
Limiting how much drug companies can charge
for high-cost drugs
Allowing Americans to buy prescription drugs
imported from Canada
0
20
40
60
76%
72%
80
100
Similar percentages of respondents say that drug companies make too much profit (73%), and are
too concerned about profits and not concerned enough about patients (74%). Perhaps that’s why
only 42% of resp ondents hold a favorable view of pharmaceutical companies.
Source: Kaiser Family Foundation. Kaiser Health Tracking Poll: August 2015.
October 2015