A case study in conflicts of interest | Science

In 2014, a paper—Nutt, et al—was published in the journal European Addiction Research that purported to evaluate the relative harms of 12 nicotine-containing products, based on a review by an expert panel. The materials assessed included conventional tobacco products, such as cigarettes, cigars, and pipes; traditional smokeless tobacco products, such as chewing tobacco and snuff; and manufactured nicotine replacement therapies (NRTs), such as patches, pouches, nasal sprays, and e-cigarettes (aka vapes). In the abstract, the authors concluded that “non-combusted sources of nicotine should be encouraged as the harms from these products are much lower.”