Data that Smoking Doesn’t Worsen Covid-19 is Full of Errors
“It has been cited, posted or tweeted, particularly by researchers or subjects financially supported by the tobacco industry.”
In March 2020, science agreed that tobacco smoking is one of the most crucial preventable risk factors of poor Covid-19 outcomes, said a June paper in the European Journal of Internal Medicine by epidemiologists in Italy. It was becoming the turning point for the recommendations to cease smoking.
Meta-analysis Errors (and More Errors Again)
A May meta-analysis of five studies by Lippi and Henry, however, halted the push. The title of this meta-analysis, “Active smoking is not associated with severity of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19),” conveys its point. “This study enjoyed widespread visibility in the scientific literature, as well as the lay press and various online social networks,” the June review stated. “It has been cited, posted or tweeted, particularly by researchers or subjects financially supported by the tobacco industry.”
But “Lippi and Henry were only correct in one out of the 5 studies.”
