For many, the cravings that come with trying to stop smoking alone may bring with them the feeling of wanting to bust someone's chops, but you'd expect a drug heralded as a stop-smoking aid would help with all that stress. Once again, don't assume anything about a drug sold today in the American marketplace!
Researchers at the Institute for Safe Medication Practices, Cambridge University, and Wake Forest University have studied the Food & Drug Adminitration's adverse events reports (we've written about them, here) for a period covering 2004 - 2009. They've been looking at Chantix, specifically.
Last week, they published their findings in PLoS ONE -- and their findings are scary. It seems that Chantix has more than TWICE the number of violence acts reported for it than any other drug on the market today. Specifically, Chantix had 408 acts of violence; the next highest number is Paxil's at 177.
And by violent acts, we are including suicides and attempted suicides. All from taking a drug that is meant to help you stop smoking!!!
There already were a number of plaintiffs who had filed lawsuits against Pfizer, the manufacturer of Chantix, because of injuries they are arguing have resulted from Pfizer's failure to warn of Chantix' psychological side effects. With this new study, we should expect more to be filed - many by families who are grieving the loss of a loved one at their own hands while under the influence of a drug marketed to help people stop a habit that was hurting them.
For more information, check out the product webpage as well as the FDA site page on Chantix. Do either of these informational pages give you enough warning when you consider the newly released study (which was based upon the FDA's own data)?
You decide:
By on December 23, 2010 9:46 PM
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