Elder abuse and carer abuse: two sides of the same coin

While delighted to see that the prestigious Ceylon Medical Journal has published an article on the important topic of tobacco, alcohol and doctors [1], and fully agreeing with much of what Carlo Fonseka has written, I am concerned about the potential misinterpretation of his passage about “Famous soft drug addicts”. He mentions the case of some famous people who used tobacco and later died “in the fullness of years and honours”. While he explains the reason for their ignorance of the likely consequences of their behaviour, the fact that they went on to enjoy a long life could suggest that tobacco is not as harmful as claimed.