Medscape Ends Partnership With Philip Morris Following Civil Society Outcry

Medscape, one of the largest providers of medical education in the United States, has ended its multi-million dollar agreement with Philip Morris International (PMI) following public outcry over the tobacco giant's sponsorship of its smoking cessation courses.

The decision follows the revelation by the British Medical Journal (BMJ) at the beginning of April[1], of the partnership between Medscape and the tobacco company. An internal document released to The Examination and The BMJ reveals the scale of the deal: Philip Morris International was to pay $2.9 million to provide a one-year “PMI program” of smoking cessation training that would be sent to Medscape’s vast network of healthcare professionals[2].

Philip Morris wanted to target healthcare professionals

Medscape aimed to offer the PMI-sponsored courses to more than 65,000 professionals in its network, which includes nearly 8,000 pulmonologists. Under the agreement with the tobacco company, five courses were released in late February and March 2024, including the courses “Health Impact of Tobacco Products: What Do We Know in 2024?” ; “Tobacco Harm Reduction: An Evidence-Based Discussion”These courses included smoking cessation through the consumption of other products containing nicotine, including nicotine pouches, snus and vaping products, products actively promoted by the manufacturer.

The deal with Medscape appears to be part of a broader Philip Morris strategy to sponsor continuing education courses for healthcare professionals around the world. The Examination also found that PMI has sponsored “risk reduction” webinars in the Middle East and South Africa.

Agreement to promote new tobacco and nicotine products

An internal Medscape document also reveals that, under the terms of the agreement with Philip Morris, the training site was also to develop other "PMI-TV" courses that would be presented in a television format. Among the proposed episodes were, for example: “Focus on Risk Reduction in Certain Patient Populations: Why Smoke-Free Products?” And “Advising patients on nicotine replacement therapy: a model that does not necessarily suit everyone”.

Medscape employees interviewed anonymously called the sponsorship a “marketing ploy” to sell more vaping products and a “blatant violation of health ethics.” Medscape’s course content has been criticized by staff for appearing to promote e-cigarettes over other cessation programs such as varenicline or nicotine replacement therapy. One employee, who asked to remain anonymous, told The Examination that the courses were “rife” with content promoting e-cigarettes as an alternative to smoking, and that it was “integrated throughout the curriculum.” A slide from the Medscape course obtained by The Examination claimed that “It is a myth that e-cigarettes are not an effective strategy for smoking cessation.”

The Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education, the organization that accredits Medscape's training courses, told The Examination it was continuing an investigation into the agreement after receiving a complaint.

A global disinformation campaign

Philip Morris is engaged in a global public relations campaign to instrumentalize the notion of harm reduction to promote its new tobacco and nicotine products (heated tobacco, vaping devices, snus and nicotine pouches). However, no independent study has yet been able to demonstrate that the use of heated tobacco is accompanied by a reduction in harm, compared to manufactured cigarettes and neither the US Food and Drug Administration nor the World Health Organization formally recognize vaping products as effective for quitting smoking. FDA Commissioner Robert Califf recently stated that the term “harm reduction” has been co-opted by the tobacco industry for the sole purpose of propaganda.

The tobacco industry seeks to confuse healthcare professionals on credible platforms in order to influence medical and scientific debates. It is also a way to improve its reputation, to position itself as “part of the solution,” rather than as responsible for the tobacco epidemic that it maintains, as evidenced by the statement of a Philip Morris spokesperson to The Examination: “ We are concerned that known interest groups are actively blocking medical education that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the medical community have determined is necessary. These actions risk prolonging the use and potentially increasing the consumption of combustible cigarettes, the most harmful form of nicotine use."

Keywords: Medscape, Philip Morris, smoking cessation, smoking cessation, heated tobacco, vaping, misinformation, healthcare professionals

©Generation Without Tobacco

FT

[1] Tobacco-free generation, Philip Morris Funds Smoking Cessation Courses on Medscape Medical Site, published on April 12, 2024, consulted on April 29, 2024

[2] Matthew Chapman, Medscape severs ties with tobacco industry after backlash over $3M Philip Morris International deal, The Examination, published April 26, 2024, accessed April 29, 2024