Según la última Encuesta Nacional de Salud, la prevalencia actual de tabaquismo en Chile es de 40,6% entre las personas mayores de 15 años de edad (1). El manejo del hábito tabáquico a nivel individual y poblacional es complejo ya que se trata de una sustancia legal cuyo uso está fuertemente arraigado en diversas culturas, con implicancia en la actividad económica de distintos países (2). El consumo de tabaco se  relaciona, entre otras causas, con la propiedad adictiva de la nicotina; ésta es capaz de producir dependencia y síndrome de privación (3). Los medicamentos más estudiados y usados para el manejo de la dependencia al tabaco son aquellos que contienen nicotina. Su efectividad ha sido probada a través de múltiples estudios aleatorizados (4), sin embargo, la generalización de estos resultados a estudios poblacionales ha sido controvertida, ya que estos últimos han demostrado resultados opuestos (5,6). El siguiente análisis crítico revisará un estudio observacional que generó interés en algunos medios de comunicación durante el año 2012.  Objective: To examine the population effectiveness of nicotine replacement therapies (NRTs), either with or without professional counselling, and provide evidence needed to better inform healthcare coverage decisions. Methods: A prospective cohort study was conducted in three waves on a probability sample of 787 Massachusetts adult smokers who had recently quit smoking. The baseline response rate was 46%; follow-up was completed with 56% of the designated cohort at wave 2 and 68% at wave 3. The relationship between relapse to smoking at follow-up interviews and assistance used, including NRT with or without professional help, was examined. Results: Almost one-third of recent quitters at each wave reported to have relapsed by the subsequent interview. Odds of relapse were unaffected by use of NRT for >6 weeks either with (p=0.117) or without (p=0.159) professional counselling and were highest among prior heavily dependent persons who reported NRT use for any length of time without professional counselling (OR 2.68).Conclusions: This study finds that persons who have quit smoking relapsed at equivalent rates, whether or not they used NRT to help them in their quit attempts. Cessation medication policy should be made in the larger context of public health, and increasing individual treatment coverage should not be at the expense of population evidence-based programmes and policies