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** 25 August 2022
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** UK
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** DLUHC warned Levelling Up Bill lacks detail for effective scrutiny (#1)
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** International
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** Denmark study: Smoking is even more damaging to the heart than previously thought (#2)
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** US blog: FDA cigarette graphic warning rule delayed again (#22)
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** UK
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** DLUHC warned Levelling Up Bill lacks detail for effective scrutiny
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Concerns have been raised that the levelling up bill will centralise planning decisions into Whitehall's hands, and that "effective scrutiny" of the legislation has been hampered by a lack of detail.

In a letter to levelling up secretary Greg Clark, the Commons' levelling up committee’s chair Clive Betts (Lab) has said that in respect of planning provisions, the main concerns his committee has heard have been around a “lack of detail in the bill which has hindered effective scrutiny, and about a perceived movement towards the centralisation of planning decisions due to some of the provisions in the bill and the tone of some of the language”.

He also raised concerns to Mr Clark that the main tool to achieve levelling up is through “appropriate funding to areas that need it most”. But with no funding for levelling up associated with the bill, he warned that “none of [its] provisions...will directly contribute to making progress towards achieving [the government’s levelling up] missions – other than setting them”.

He said: “In its current form, the bill does little to reassure that levelling up will prove to be more than just a slogan and that we will have meaningful change in local communities across the country. In key areas, it is unclear how the government intends to drive change and they are yet to commit to the spending that is necessary to level up the country.”

A Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) spokesperson said: "The Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill underpins our ambition to spread opportunity and address inequality across the UK. This is backed by our £4.8bn Levelling Up Fund which is delivering vital infrastructure for our much loved communities. Our planning reforms put local people in charge and communities will have a greater say in shaping the regeneration and development of their areas.”

Source: Local Government Chronicle, 24 August 2022
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** International
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** Denmark study: Smoking is even more damaging to the heart than previously thought
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Smokers have weaker hearts than non-smokers, according to research to be presented at the European Society of Cardiology Congress 2022 this Friday. The study found that the more people smoked, the worse their heart function became, though that some function was restored in people upon quitting smoking.

The researchers used data from an earlier study, which examined the heart health of 3,874 people aged 20 to 99 who did not have heart disease. A self-administered questionnaire was used to obtain information on smoking history and to estimate pack-years, which is the number of cigarettes smoked through life. One pack-year is defined as 20 cigarettes smoked every day for one year. Volunteers also underwent an ultrasound of the heart, which provided information on its structure and functioning. The researchers then compared heart scans of current smokers against those who had never smoked. Nearly a fifth of participants were current smokers (18.6%), while 40.9% used to smoke and 40.5% never smoked.

The detrimental effects of smoking on the arteries and arterial diseases such as heart attack and stroke are well established, but the findings from the study demonstrated that smoking also leads to thicker, weaker hearts.

Researchers also noted that, among smokers, the left ventricle, the most important part of the heart, had a smaller volume of blood and less power to pump the blood out to the rest of the body. The team also spotted that the changes in the heart worsened in relation to how much a person smoked. And over a 10-year period, the hearts of those who kept smoking became thicker, heavier and weaker, compared to those who quit.

Dr Eva Holt, of Herlev and Gentofte Hospital in Copenhagen and lead study author, emphasised from the findings however that some of the damage of smoking is reversible, stating: “The heart can recuperate to some degree with smoking cessation, so it is never too late to quit.”

Source: Daily Mail, 25 August 2022

See also: Press release - Smoking is even more damaging to the heart than previously thought ([link removed].)
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** US blog: FDA cigarette graphic warning rule delayed again
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Bryan Hanes and Nick Ramos, regulatory lawyers at the law firm Troutman Pepper, discuss the ongoing legal challenges to the US Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) March 2020 rule on a graphic-warning requirement for cigarettes.

Initially slated to take effect June 18, 2021, the rule would require 11 new textual, health warning statements accompanied by colour, “photorealistic” images displayed on the top 50% of the front and rear panels of cigarette packs and top 20% of cigarette ads, they write.

The authors state that tobacco manufacturers have challenged the FDA’s graphic-warning rule in federal courts in Texas and the District of Columbia. “In each case, the manufacturers have asked the court to postpone, or the court has postponed on its own, the effective date of the rule for various reasons.”

The latest court ruling in the Eastern District of Texas delays tobacco companies’ obligation to introduce graphic warnings for an additional 90 days until October 6, 2023.

Hanes and Ramos continue that the FDA strongly encourages companies to submit cigarette plans as soon as possible, but no later than December 7, 2022, and to also focus on enforceable requirements, such as the FDA’s current warning statements and filing cigarette rotational health warning plans with the Federal Trade Commission.

Source: Lexology, 24 August 2022
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ASH Daily News is a digest of published news on smoking-related topics. ASH is not responsible for the content of external websites. ASH does not necessarily endorse the material contained in this bulletin.

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