Recommendations for the treatment of nicotine dependency

The US Public Health Service (PHS) Clinical Practice Guideline Treating Tobacco Use and Dependence, published in June 2000, is a clinician-targeted resource that encourages physicians to apply evidence-based interventions when treating tobacco-dependent patients. Issued by the PHS Surgeon General, the guideline recommends a new standard of care in treating tobacco dependency, the chief cause of preventable death and disease in the United States. It calls on clinicians to more consistently identify and evaluate tobacco-dependent patients and to provide treatment, motivation to quit, and referrals to smoking cessation specialists. The guideline also serves as a mandate for healthcare insurers to offer pharmacologic and behavioral treatment modalities as benefits to insured persons and to provide education and reimbursement for clinicians.