Personal Injury Law

Stop-Smoking Drug Linked to Suicide

By Jamie G. Goldstein

Many try to quit smoking in order to live a longer, healthier life but now Chantix, a drug used to quit smoking, has been linked to suicide in some users. In the battle to fight nicotine addiction, many turned to Chantix which was placed on the market in 2006. Since then the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has received reports of around 100 suicides, 200 attempted suicides, and 5,000 psychiatric episodes related to Chantix, and those numbers continue to increase. Others report blackouts, aggression, and diabetes resulting from taking the drug.

Now new questions are raised when examinations of clinical trials of Chantix show that the drug was not tested on anyone who was mentally ill or depressed. This is puzzling since statistics show that mental problems affect millions of cigarette smokers. Despite this glaring error, the FDA not only approved the drug but fast-tracked it onto the market despite recognitions of the omissions in the clinical trials. In 2007 the FDA issued a warning about the possibility of suicidal thoughts as a result of taking Chantix. The Federal Aviation Agency and the military have banned Chantix altogether. Now, the FDA has ordered Pfizer, the maker of Chantix, to conduct a new study that includes mentally ill subjects. The purpose of the study is to 'determine whether individuals with prior history of psychiatric disorders are at greater risk for development of clinically significant neuropsychiatric events.'

Many users of Chantix are alleging that Pfizer should be held accountable for this defective trial process in addition to failing to place adequate warning labels on their product. Pfizer is denying any wrongdoing saying in its official statement that it acted 'responsibly' during Chantix's testing phase. However, stories of Chantax users are cropping up that cast doubt on that assertion. One California woman committed suicide one day after telling her friends and family that she had been hallucinating, seeing the words 'God is in the Realm' written in the sky. When so many smokers have depression and mental health issues, not including them in studies of the drug cannot be considered responsible behavior for a drug company.

Full post as published by Chicago Personal Injury Lawyer on January 04, 2011 (boomark / email).