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West Virginia Gets Failing Grades for Tobacco Control

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WHEELING — The American Lung Association has given West Virginia failing grades regarding tobacco control and cessation policies and programs, according to its latest report, “State of Tobacco Control.”

Meanwhile, doctors at WVU Medicine Wheeling Hospital are trying to catch one of the consequences of excessive tobacco use — lung cancer — earlier in hopes of more successful recoveries.

The Tobacco Control Report gave West Virginia “F” grades for funding of state tobacco prevention programs, its level of state tobacco taxes, coverage and access to smoking cessation programs and ending the sale of all flavored tobacco products.

West Virginia also received a “D” grade for the strength of its smoke-free workplace laws.

“While we have seen progress in West Virginia, tobacco use remains our leading cause of preventable death and disease, taking an estimated 4,280 lives each year,” said Molly Pisciottano, director of Advocacy at the American Lung Association in West Virginia, in a press release.

“And our progress on tobacco control policy has not been equal. We continue to see the unequal burden of tobacco use and exposure to secondhand smoke in communities experiencing health disparities.”

Dr. Robert Herron, a thoracic surgeon at the WVU Heart and Vascular Institute at Wheeling Hospital, said his hospital recently started a new screening program aimed at catching lung cancer in its early stages. It uses a low-dose CT to look for any potential nodules in a patient’s lungs.

He said a patient must meet some parameters to get the screening, such as being between the ages of 50 and 80 years old, having smoked for 30 years or have quit in the last 15 years.

Herron said the hospital has been promoting the screening program in the community, and letting primary care doctors know about it, too.

Regarding the tobacco control report, Herron said in West Virginia 24% of the state’s adults are smokers, compared to the national average of about 19%.

Smoking impacts the entire body, Herron said, not just the lungs.

“The most common cause, by far, of lung cancer is smoking,” he said. “It causes a variety of different cancers — pancreatic, throat. It also causes COPD, emphysema and underlying lung issues that are nearly as bad. It hardens the arteries in the legs and the coronary arteries.”

As a thoracic surgeon, Herron performs surgeries on people’s lungs and in their chests.

“I tell my patients of all the products for sale … (tobacco is) the only one if used as directed is designed to kill you. There is no other product that gets away with that,” Herron said.

Herron said there is data that shows people often start smoking at a young age because their parents or siblings smoke. He noted if parents suspect their children are smoking or vaping, the habit needs to be nipped in the bud quickly.

He suggests parents have a discussion with their child about the dangers of smoking and vaping. They may also want to include their child’s doctor in the conversation, too.

Herron believes early school education programs can be helpful, too.

Herron, a native of Wheeling, said when he started his medical education, he originally wanted to be a radiologist, but as his education progressed he became interested in surgery, and eventually chose to become a thoracic surgeon.

“I like treating cancer patients and doing cancer surgery,” he said.

Herron described the lung screening program as a “game-changer” for the Ohio Valley. He noted it includes a tobacco cessation program.

Studies have shown, he said, that such lung screenings can lead to a 20% decrease in mortality for people with lung cancer.

WVU Medicine Wheeling Hospital is an American College of Radiology Lung Cancer Screening Center. The accreditation was made by the ACR’s Committee on CT Accreditation.

Meanwhile, the tobacco control report says West Virginia policymakers need to increase funding for prevention and cessation, increase tobacco taxes by at least $1 and “preserve local control” of laws that ban smoking in public places.

West Virginia, Pisciottano said, can do better in funding its prevention programs.

“Despite receiving $232.6 million from tobacco settlement payments and tobacco taxes, West Virginia only funds tobacco control efforts at 6.1% of the level recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,” she said. “The Lung Association believes the funds should be used to support the health of our communities, and to prevent tobacco use and help people quit, and not switch to e-cigarettes. These programs are also critical for helping to end tobacco-related health disparities.”

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