Deadly Tobacco

Re “Drug Lotronex Pulled Over Safety Fears,” Nov. 29: The FDA pulled Lotronex because it was possibly linked to five deaths and additional bowel surgeries. Curiously, the people of the United States are not mandating that the FDA pull tobacco, a recreational pharmaceutical substance available for unlimited use without a prescription. It is linked to 3 million deaths a year worldwide and countless more hospitalizations and surgeries. Historians of the future will look at us as the dumbest smart people in the history of civilization.

ERNO S. DANIEL MD

Santa Barbara