DOCTORS URGE BUSH TO CONTINUE TOBACCO FIGHT

WASHINGTON (Reuters Health) - Arguing that the tobacco industry "must be
held accountable" for deceiving the public about the health effects of
smoking, the American Medical Association (AMA) urged the Bush
administration Monday to continue the ongoing legal battle against the "Big
Seven" US tobacco companies.

In a letter to US Attorney General John Ashcroft (news - web sites), the
AMA urged the Bush administration to provide "competent legal staff and
adequate federal funding" to assure the continued viability of the Justice
Department's lawsuit against the tobacco industry.

"We strongly urge you to continue the government's legal campaign to hold
the tobacco industry accountable," Dr. E. Ratcliffe Anderson, the AMA's
executive vice president, told Ashcroft.

"The good health of our country depends on it," Anderson stated.

Calling cigarettes "the only consumer product that kills when used as
intended by the manufacturer," Anderson noted that cigarettes claim 400,000
American lives each year.

In fact, he said, by the year 2025, an estimated 10 million people
worldwide will have died from tobacco-related illnesses.