My father, John just passed away 11/24/2007. He was 86 years old. He had a great life. He only got sick the last few months of his life. He played golf, was a oil painter and loved watching TV.
I just received his Death Certification. Here is what it said:
Immediate cause: Respiratory failure
Lung Cancer
Conditions; Smoking

My father quit smoking when he was 65. He smoked cigars for about one year, but when they raised the price, he quit. He also worked in the ship yards in San Francisco during the war. He was around lots of asbestos. He was a maintainer machinist. He was also a heavy drinker. He drank beer and wisky all his life. He also lived in Los Banjos California for twenty years. He was diagnosed with Valley Fever. A condition there from th farming pesticides. But none of that was on his death certificate.

I am really mad that his death certificate clams he died of smoking. He lived longer than average. My wife father just passed away also. He never smoked our drank. He lived to be eighty-two. So if guess if you don’t smoke, you just died. But if you smoke, you died of smoking!

It's not saying smoking was the cause of death. The cause of death was respiratory failure due to lung cancer. "Conditions" are just risk factors for the disease the deceased possessed. Of course without listing his other known risk factors, as you have pointed out, it would give one the impression smoking must of been the cause of death. I have dealt with a lot of death, and from my experience, most physician's are pretty lazy when filling out death certificates, they figure no one cares anyway. It's why death certificates are poor data to use in any study. Truth is, no one really knows exactly what caused his lung cancer.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: John L,

Hello John,
Thank you for the reply. I needed that. I love my father and miss him very much. I’m 60 years old. I have always had him around. We where very close. I still think I can just pick up the phone and talk to him!
But when I seen that on the death certificate, I just blew up. The hate here in California against smoking is getting worse every year. People her give you dirty looks, and make unjust statements. It’s getting old. I put him in a Nursing Home in Los Banos just before is death. The first thing out of there mouth was, do you smoke? We don’t take smokers here! After a few days I moved him to a Nursing Home in Clear Lake California that is a resort area here. They had no “No Smoking Signs”. I seen a few older people smoking around the buildings. They had chairs for them with ash trays out side. I said to myself this place is cool, this is where he belongs. Come to find out they treated him really well there. .I live near Santa Cruze California. On the beaches there they have signs, No smoking, no dogs, no fires, no alcohol. Are elected rulers here hate freedom. They pass least 1000 new laws every year. There latest target is fireplaces.
So thanks for explanning “Conditions” for me. That makes me feel much better!

I'm glad.

quote:

So if guess if you don’t smoke, you just died. But if you smoke, you died of smoking!

Bingo! Whether or not "conditions" or "risk factors" are listed, the CDC counts this as a "smoking-related" death. Hence the claim that 450,000 people die from smoking each year. I have one sister, a nonsmoker. If she dies of a heart attack someday, it will be listed as a fatal heart attack. I'm a smoker. If I die of a heart attack, it will be listed as a fatal heart attack caused by smoking.

I lost my father a little over a year ago. He was 76; just 6 days shy of turning 77. He smoked a pipe until age 65, when he was diagnosed with throat cancer. He was treated with radiation. The cancer was seemingly cured. But 9 years later, in 2004, it returned and was at Stage 2. He had a complete laryngectomy and was once again cancer-free. For a year, that is....Then he had a malignancy on his right kidney. It was surgically removed. Again, cancer-free. However, the 2 surgeries left him so weak that he developed dizzy spells that caused him to black out into unconsciousness for about 30 seconds. He suffered many falls. One day, as he was boiling water to make oatmeal, he collapsed over a stove and burned up.

Despite his cause of death from burning, I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if the CDC didn't list this as "smoking-related." If he hadn't had the surgeries, he wouldn't have had the fainting spells. If he hadn't had cancer, he wouldn't have had the surgeries. If he hadn't smoked a pipe, he wouldn't have had the throat cancer. That's the way the CDC would see it.

Hello Pat,
Thank you for the reply. Thank you for the story of your father. I’m not alone. I guess we all have to go thru this. But it sure is not easy. My mother also passed away a few years ago, now I feel alone. But then again I have a great wife, two great kids that are grown, and a great Mother In Law. I guess we have to count are blessing as we go. I think as we get older time gets more valuable. I wish time would slow down a little!
I really miss the 60’s. I remember when my whole family smoked. We smoked everywhere. Restaurants, Movies, Grocery stores, Bars, work, etc. I was in the hospital once in San Francisco, we had ash trays buy are beds. When I was being diagnosed buy the doctor we had a cigarette together! I remember when going to friends houses. If you smoked they would provide you with a ash tray. No one ever said back then that they hated the smell of smoke. My parents drank, smoked, and enjoyed life. They had a lot of house parties. Everyone then had a good time. The bars back then where always packed with people having fun. All the cops back then drank. So if you got stopped for bad driving, they took you home. Our they would make you park your car and walk home. Lots of times they took your drinks for themselves. Once in awhile someone would say, oh, those stunt your growth. We had no smog controls, no helmet laws. The state just took care of the schools, roads, parks etc. They stayed out of your personal life. At school they just taught you your studies and stayed out of your personal life. I miss those day!

My condolences for the loss of your Dad.

Those days were the good old days and they are the only proof we have now that the anti-smoking mentality is a product of social engineering.

I think that anti-smokers don't realize that people smoked everywhere for decades without everyone breaking into a coughing fit or having an asthma attack.

I find it laughable when people say things like "I had to take a shower after I got home from the bar" or "My clothes stink of smoke". I didn't start smoking until I was an adult and these thoughts never would have occurred to me while I was growing up. I never heard anyone ever say anything like that, and if I did, I think I would have thought they were a little nuts.

I remember arriving in my new dorm in my freshman year of college. I didn't smoke then. I remember one of the Resident Advisors (R.A.) was having a chummy little get together with the freshmen, trying to make them feel comfortable. He was doing a pretty good job; a guy standing next to an open window in the back felt comfortable enough to light up.

The R.A. instantly changed from a nice welcoming guy into a fascist asshole. "PUT THAT OUT! THERE'S NO SMOKING IN HERE! NOW! PUT IT OUT!" The smoking guy was embarassed, apologized and sheepishly complied.

This was twenty years ago, give or take. At that point, I hadn't smoke a cigarette in my life, but I avoided that R.A. from then on.

Smoking is blamed for every death medical science has no clue about.

I'm 48, so during the 1960's I was just a kid in elementary school, but I indeed remember adults smoking just about anywhere and even nonsmokers providing ashtrays in their homes for smoking guests. I do remember a FEW anti-smoking assholes back then, but certainly nothing like they are now. Back then, the "Anti's" rarely complained about the smell; they just said you were killing yourself. I remember in the 70's, however, as a teenager, smoking around my anti-smoking cousins. They would actually get a can of Lysol out and spray the immediate area. A foreshadowing of things to come, I guess.....

What it boils down to is that nobody had a problem with public smoking until the government and media alike orchestrated their campaign of unsound science to the masses. The overwhelming majority fell for it. Hook, line, and sinker. Literally overnight, nonsmokers transformed themselves from thinking nothing about sitting across a table from someone smoking to genuinely believing that it was as "deadly" as a loaded gun pointed at them. Social engineering, AKA brainwashing, at its finest.