This medical kit increases your odds of quitting smoking

The company trying to solve erectile dysfunction (ED) with technology is doing the same to help folks quit smoking. Ro has launched the Zero Quit Kit that uses multiple strategies and end-to-end services to give smokers a better chance to kick their habit.

Ro says that even though about half of smokers try to quit every year, only about 3 to 5 percent succeed after six months. Quitting with nicotine replacement therapy (a patch or gum) boosts those odds by up to 70 percent, and adding tapering and counseling increases them further to 15.5 percent. If you roll in medication, your odds are a much more inspiring 33 percent after six months and 28 percent after a year. That's nearly four times the odds of quitting with a placebo, Ro notes.

The Zero kit incorporates bupropion (a medication that curbs cravings), nicotine gum and an app to help with tracking and counseling via Ro physicians. To get started, you first do a $15 online consultation with a physician who will recommend a personalized quit program. Ro emphasizes that "Zero is not trying to replace in-person doctor visits, it's a complement to help people get easy access to the best tools to quit smoking."

If you think Zero might do the trick, it doesn't come cheap. The doctor recommended Zero Quit Kit costs $129 per month, and individual products are available separately starting at $42 per month. Considering that pack-a-day smokers spend $154 per month in the US (and way, way more elsewhere), the program looks pretty good in comparison, however. Zero products are now up for pre-order and start shipping on October 2nd, 2018.