E-cigarette marketing mimics ads that glamorized smoking, and other letters

Regarding your recent story “Study fuels push for FDA e-cigarette regulation” (ModernHealthcare.com, Aug. 19), youth exposure to television e-cigarette advertisements, measured by target rating points, increased 256% from 2011 to 2013. E-cigarettes are also being marketed at youth-oriented sporting and music events and on social media websites. E-cigarette advertising tactics—including the use of celebrities and product placement in music videos and movies—mimic the strategies that were so successful in making smoking seem glamorous and cool to young people. And they are working—teen use of e-cigarettes is climbing steadily.

Emily Feinstein

Regarding the article “Hospitals take aim at big insurance mergers” (ModernHealthcare.com, Aug. 7), as a physician, I see the rush to merge as comparable to the nuclear arms race. Hospitals merge, so insurance companies merge, and then physician groups merge. I don't know the answer, but I believe the patient loses. There is no evidence that quality is improved and certainly not that prices fall because of the megamergers. Current antitrust laws are not protecting the patients.