Years After He Quit Smoking, a Lung Cancer Scan Saved His Life By Paula Span Aug. 12, 2026

https://kffhealthnews.org/aging/new-old-age-lung-cancer-screening-rates-smoking-survival/?utm_campaign=KHN%3A%20First%20Edition&utm_medium=email&_hsenc=p2ANqtz--X44E9Eak10OaBMCBD18T4n0xvPm2gH__gyiMenkvFD63VBPT7gM16ILUr1AvTV0j_ZLYRlxaYxxrkxs67DcvvKZy3pg&_hsmi=432809376&utm_content=432809376&utm_source=hs_email KFF Health News: Years After He Quit Smoking, A Lung Cancer Scan Saved His Life Dennis Schmidt started smoking as a teenager, when that was so unexceptional that his Catholic high school designated outdoor “senior smoking quarters,” where students in their final year could take cigarette breaks. He smoked a pack of menthols daily for nearly 40 years. As a registered nurse at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center and a former Air Force medic, he knew this was a bad idea. “I made a couple of attempts to quit and they failed miserably,” said Schmidt, now 75. (Span, 8/12)