We (the FDA) have reviewed the published literature on this longer-term use of NRT products and have not identified any safety risks associated with such use. A well-known and highly regarded study on the effects of long-term use of NRT products is the Lung Health Study, in which almost 6,000 smokers were given access to free nicotine gum for up to 5 years (see Murray et al., 1996). In this study, over 1,000 subjects were still using the gum after 1 year. The adverse effects of long-term nicotine gum use reported by these subjects were described as minor and transient, and there was no correlation between long-term gum use and cardiovascular events. A followup study found that long-term ad lib use of nicotine gum neither increased nor decreased the Lung Health Study subjects' likelihood of developing cancer.