Philip Morris International, a big tobacco company, has recently been hit with scandals in Australia.

Few plans have been shelved so suddenly.

The letter from PharmaPrograms outlines details of a program to provide incentives for pharmacies to order e-cigarettes, backed by one of the biggest players in the Big Tobacco industry.

The IT solutions company, which works with the pharmaceutical industry, described how pharmacies received a $275 reserve after ordering at least $250 worth of inventory of Philip Morris International-backed VEEV pods and equipment.

The leaked letter, seen by the media, is signed by Kos, believed to be former Pharmacy Guild chairman Kos Sclavos, who works at PharmaPrograms. News Corp disclosed more details publicly for the first time on Tuesday.

These include: a $5 fee when a pharmacist refers a client to a doctor for a prescription for an vaping product, a $10 fee when a client is introduced to a VEEV device, and a $5 fee each time a new prescription is dispensed.

Once the details were made public, there was a swift outcry from a range of health groups including anti-smoking group Quit Victoria, RACGP and the Australian Medical Association.

RACGP chair and professor Karen Price called it shocking and urged pharmacists not to register.

She said: "What we basically have here is a health organisation working hand in hand with a tobacco giant responsible for millions of deaths to incentivise pharmacists to market harmful vaping products.

The condemnation intensified earlier on Wednesday. The Pharmaceutical Society of Australia (PSA) has joined the opposition to the plan.

"No healthcare professional should accept financial incentives or support from tobacco companies. Big Tobacco cannot and should not trust the health of Australians," said PSA president Dr Fei Shen.

"The financial rebate offered by PMI is a clear disdain for our profession and our dedication to the health and well-being of our community."

"PMI is promoting these products and they are still unregulated and unregistered, which is irritating."

Chemist Warehouse founder Jack Gance also condemned the proposal.

By the end of the day, those plans had been shelved — at least for now. The Australian Journal of Pharmacy reports on PharmaPrograms' decision to delay the program, allowing all components of the program to be reviewed.

For Professor Nick Zwar, chair of the Expert Advisory Group (EAG) that developed the RACGP guidelines for smoking cessation, the question is how the plans were developed in the first place. Professor Zwar told newsGP.

He said: "It's an amazing thing that they're totally trying to do that. The suspension of the program is welcome. They were apparently responding to media attention, as well as comments from Karen Price, the AMA and Quit Victoria.

Following Wednesday's EAG meeting on smoking cessation guidelines, Professor Zwar said the attitude would be to wait and see rather than act now.

He said: "Our view is that there is no need for us to do anything at this stage as the scheme appears to be dead in the water.

Professor Zwar also gave Australia's unique prescribing model - which was introduced last year - as background to the controversy.

“It is important to understand that in many countries, especially in Europe, nicotine vaping products are now mainly produced by tobacco companies, especially Philip Morris International, which dominate the market,” he said.

"So it's no surprise that they want to bring their products to more markets around the world."

“In most jurisdictions where nicotine vaping products are offered as consumer products, they do this through marketing to consumers … as their primary way of selling their products. Here, there is a commercial necessity to try to do this through medical models and pharmacies .

According to Professor Zwar, the controversy also highlights a gap he believes needs to be filled - any vaping products that are not approved by the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA).

"It would be better if we had an approved nicotine e-cigarette as a drug that had gone through the proper approval process and was a registered product, like other drugs are in the TGA," he said.

“Then physicians who think these may be valuable cessation support for their patients will have the confidence to prescribe the same way we prescribe other drugs. Part of the reason Philip Morris International was able to see this opportunity and try to capitalize on it is because this background."

Dr Hester Wilson, chair of addiction medicine of specific interest at the RACGP, agreed that the system is currently not working.

"In general practice, e-cigarettes are almost never prescribed," Dr Wilson told newsGP. "Patients don't come to us because they buy illegally over the counter or because they get it from these online doctor sites."

Both Professor Zwar and Dr Wilson believe that tightly regulated e-cigarettes can help smokers quit.

Dr Wilson said: "There is a place for nicotine-based vaping products for people who are nicotine dependent, who have tried other options, and if they can quit smoking, their health will really improve a lot.

However, she also said the focus needed to be on e-cigarettes as a short-term way to quit smoking - and she also strongly condemned the now-suspended program to incentivise pharmacists to stock up on certain products.

"It comes directly from what their big tobacco companies have been doing. I'm shocked that any pharmacy would think it's a good idea. You have to be very careful where you get your money from and who benefits from it. Obviously, the tobacco companies don't Hopefully their product will be used in the short term.”

Professor Zwar said that while his focus was on smoking cessation, the alarming rise in the popularity of e-cigarettes among young people was an urgent public health issue that needed to be addressed.

However, he doubts that making them more accessible to consumers will solve the problem.

"If it's a consumer product, why does it have to stop?" he asked. "I'm not sure if there is a logical connection there."

Last month, the BBC published an article that may have added to Professor Zwar's doubts. It covers the issue of unsafe e-cigarette supplies for children in the UK, where e-cigarettes are more widely available by law.

Despite the looser regulation, the article points to a large number of products being illegally smuggled into the UK.

Meanwhile, while Professor Zwar is pleased that Philip Morris International is no longer likely to offer incentives to Australian pharmacists, he will be wary of any such move.

It's likely that the program won't resurface -- but we'll be careful, he said.