Physicians' counseling of patients when prescribing nicotine replacement therapy

To link to full-text access for this article, visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.addbeh.2006.06.021 Byline: Saul Shiffman (a), Stuart G. Ferguson (a), Stephen J. Hellebusch (b) Keywords: Smoking cessation; Nicotine replacement; Over-the-counter medication Abstract: Nicotine patches and gum are now available without a prescription in many countries. Some have expressed concern that allowing access to these medications without a prescription may deprive smokers of the instruction and support they would otherwise have received from their physician. We assessed the value of physician involvement in NRT prescription. Author Affiliation: (a) Pinney Associates, Inc., Pittsburgh, PA, University of Pittsburgh, Smoking Research Group, Pittsburgh, PA, USA (b) Hellebusch Research and Consulting, Inc., USA