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August 8, 2005
Peter Jennings, Smoking and Lung Cancer
Mark Kleiman asks the obvious question, "Why shouldn't we say what killed Peter Jennings?"
The vast majority of those who die of lung cancer die as a result of having been cigarette smokers, just as the vast majority of those who die of cirrhosis of the liver die as the result of heavy drinking.So it seems natural to me for the obituary of a lung cancer victim to mention the decedent's smoking status. Not to do so is a little bit like mentioning that someone died as a result of a bullet wound without mentioning who shot him.
My mother died of lung cancer as a result of smoking and my father's life was cut short by a heart attack that may have been the result of smoking several packs of Camels a day so I'm a little sensitive on this subject. I agree with Kleiman that something important is missing from the ABC's obituary for Jennings. The same is true of the CNN and the New York Times obituaries. Several obituaries did mention the cause of his death. And, also like Kleiman, I strongly disagree with Ann Althouse who said on Instapundant.com ,
IF YOU SMOKE AND DIE OF CANCER, every obituary will take advantage of your death as an opportunity to remind the living to quit smoking.
Just like every obituary of a shooting victim should say how they died so we are reminded that the deaths are preventable, so, every obituary of a smoker should be viewed "as an opportunity to remind the living to quit smoking."
As the Los Angeles Times said in their Jennings obituary,
Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths in U.S. men and women, accounting for 163,510 deaths this year. Most cases of lung cancer are directly attributable to smoking. A lung cancer diagnosis presents a very poor prognosis, with a one-year survival rate of only 42% and a five-year rate of 15%.
ABC does mention in another article that Jennings had been a heavy smoker and Jennings himself mentioned it when he told the world about his lung cancer.
Take a look at Kleiman's post. It's worth a complete read.
Posted by Duane Smith at August 8, 2005 7:46 PM | Read more on Current Events |
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