JAMA : the journal of the American Medical Association
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Until the nonsmokers' rights movement, tobacco control activity was at the federal or state levels, which is where the tobacco industry dominates. Since the appearance of the nonsmokers' rights movement, progress in tobacco control has occurred primarily at the local level. In response to the success of this movement, the tobacco industry has developed "smokers' rights" groups and other tactics to fight local legislation. ⋯ Despite the tobacco industry's superior financial resources, the outcome of proposed local tobacco control legislation appears to depend on how seriously the health advocates mobilize in support of the local legislation. When the health community makes a serious commitment of time and resources, it wins. When it fails to make such a commitment, the tobacco industry prevails, more by default than by its superior financial resources.
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--To evaluate the usefulness of malpractice claims data for identifying (1) physicians who are prone to negligent errors and (2) physician and hospital characteristics associated with particular kinds of errors. ⋯ --Use of physicians' malpractice claims histories to target individuals for education or sanctions is problematic because of the only modest predictive power of such claims histories.