By CARLA K. JOHNSON,
CHICAGO (May 
— The federal government’s new advice to doctors for helping smokers quit recommends the drug Chantix, which has recently been linked with depression and suicidal behavior. The new guidelines mention the psychiatric risks but also say the popular Pfizer Inc. drug is the most effective at helping people get off cigarettes.
The guidelines mention other options, too, and highly recommend combining counseling and medication. But doctors are encouraged to talk to all smokers who want to quit about trying medication.
Consumer advocates cautioned that the safety picture on Chantix is incomplete because it’s a relatively new drug, on the market just since 2006.
“It is somewhat better than other therapies; on the other hand, it appears to have more risk,” said Dr. Sidney Wolfe of the watchdog group Public Citizen. “That part of the risk-benefit equation is missing, and it’s changing rapidly.”
Another issue with the quit-smoking guidelines, released this week by the U.S. Public Health Service, is the lead author’s past connections with Pfizer. Dr. Michael Fiore, an expert on smoking and health issues, was a consultant to the maker of Chantix. But he said he cut those ties in 2005.
Fiore’s views are shaped by his past ties to the drug industry, and those ties still pose a conflict, at least one consumer advocate said. John Polito, a smoking cessation educator who runs the WhyQuit.com site advocating quitting “cold turkey,” called the revised guidelines “a sales pitch” for the drug industry.
The task force overlooked research showing that quitting cold turkey works, Polito said, and studies showing Chantix is superior don’t reflect how it’s used “in the real world.”
“People are quitting smoking to save their lives,” Polito said. If Chantix’s risks outweigh its benefits, “then it’s insane for people to risk their lives” by using it, he said.
So what do you think is the risk worth it?
Do you know of anyone that has either a positive or negative experience with this drug?
Recently at a speaking engagement in Chicago, I met a user that quit smoking using the drug but refused to proceed to the fourth step as he feared the side affects that he was experiencing.
Whose side are you on that of Fiore? or Polito?
Share your thoughts!
Let others know your opinion!
13 comments ↓
Found a very interesting article today that supports going “cold turkey”.
United States
A survey of US smokers conducted by market research group Mintel found that 74% of the respondents said they quit smoking by going cold turkey, while 8% gave up the habit by using nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) products like gums and patches, 6% by cutting back on cigarettes and 4% with the help of an oral prescription medication. (Business Wire 05/08)
The US Federal Aviation Administration said it is banning airline pilots and air traffic controllers from using Chantix because the reported side effects could pose a threat to the safe operation of aircraft.(New York Times - NYT 05/22
New safety concerns for Pfizer Inc’s Chantix could worsen the already declining sales of the smoking cessation drug and lead to legal trouble for the pharmaceutical company, which has twice updated Chantix’s label for potential side effects since its was approved in May 2006, analysts said. (Dow Jones 05/22)
As mentioned in another spot a buddy had his doctor recommend Skoal pouches as a way of quitting smoking! He quit smoking!
Hey Lou just wanted to tell you that the article you wrote in Convenience Store Decisions - May edition was great! I think your right on target!
i used Chantix successfully for about 3 months. I found the product to be good at alleviating the desire for nicotine specifically, but bad at keeping me feeling like my normal self (or the self i knew when I was smoking).
While on chantix, I did not experience any depression or any real side effects…but I did feel off and a bit mentally lost. After stopping usual dosage 2 months into using it, I was able to stay off cigarettes for another month after.
The reasons why I went back to cigarettes, I believe, aren’t because Chantix wasn’t effective…but due to the reasons people start/resume smoking - habit/peers/social settings, etc.
However, I do feel like the drug was effective while I was taking it.
Saw on the news that GSK is re-attacking the cessation business lost by Chantix. Seems Pfizer business is down 33%. Interesting comment was made that the Chantix noise is causing loss sales in other cessation products also.
My neighbor used chantix and was doing really well and then all of a sudden began to have strange feelings of depression and ended up quitting using the drug when he woke up one night with thoughts of suicide. Amazing to still find the FDA allowing the use of this drug. It makes me really wonder how the FDA would ever be able to control the tobacco industry but then I realize it will most likely refer to it’s partner - Philip Morris.
I find it ironic that Big Tobacco pays govt to then go pay Big Pharma to produce products that don’t work! Or possibly are more deadly! Pretty interesting!
United States/Japan: Yokota Air Base Pharmacy Pulls Chantix
Medical officials at the US Air Force’s Yokota Air Base in Japan decided to remove Chantix from the base pharmacy, after a May report from the Institute for Safe Medication Practices found an array of health and safety concerns including falls, heart rhythm disturbances, heart attacks, seizures, diabetes and psychiatric disturbances associated with the smoking cessation drug. Yokota has suspended all refills of Chantix, but 374th Medical Support Squadron pharmacy element chief Major Tam Dinh said a patient with approval from his doctor can continue the medication and special order the drug. Chantix, however, is still available in many military smoking-cessation programs in the region, although air crew members can no longer take the drug as per the US Department of Defense’s (DOD) recommendation that “varenicline should not be used by personnel operating aircraft (including aircrew and air traffic controllers) and missile crew members.” In South Korea, where Chantix is available at military treatment facilities, Major Remington L. Nevin said individual healthcare providers are free to exercise their judgment in determining whether their patients should be treated with Chantix. He noted that the DOD recommendation currently does not prohibit the use of Chantix or mandate a formal screening process before prescribing the medication. The medical community at US naval hospitals Yokosuka and Okinawa in Japan are taking a similar approach, leaving the decision about Chantix to the patient and the physician (Stars & Stripes 8/12).
Found this on the TMA site - (also on the blogroll)
Prof. Michael Siegel of Boston University School of Public Health said the national recommendation that Pfizer’s Chantix and other smoking cessation drugs be used to treat nicotine dependence in all smokers, despite its potential adverse side effects, comes from a panel that had severe financial conflicts of interest, including the panel’s chair Dr. Michael Fiore who has lectured and consulted for Pfizer and eight other panel members who have received or are currently receiving funding from pharmaceutical companies. The extensive conflicts of interests may have contributed to the magnitude of the problems surrounding Chantix, including its side effects and the lawsuits that have been filed by families of smokers who say their loved ones committed suicide as a result of taking the drug, Siegel writes (tobaccoanalysis.blogspot.com 09/24)
According to an article in Lawyers USA, there are now at least 200 lawsuits that have been filed by the families of plaintiffs who allege that their loved ones committed suicide as a result of taking the smoking cessation drug Chantix (varenicline) or by plaintiffs who attempted suicide after starting Chantix. These cases were filed by a single law firm, which is investigating another 1,200 cases. Another firm is investigating 175 similar cases.
The plaintiff’s attorney was quoted in the article as describing the cases as follows: “”Tragically, almost without explanation, these people commit suicide, often without any prior diagnosis of family or individual history of depression, psychosis or any other type of psychological conditions.”
Another article from TMA site and Michael Siegel -
Prof. Michael Siegel of Boston University School of Public Health said the Institute for Safe Medication Practices’ report revealing that Pfizer’s smoking cessation drug Chantix accounted for more reported serious injuries than any other prescription drug brings to light the “potential tragedy related to the fact that national recommendations that all physicians use drug treatment for all of their patients and the recommendation of Chantix for this purpose were made by an expert panel that was chaired by a researcher with a history of severe financial conflicts of interest and that included numerous others with financial interests in pharmaceutical companies.” (tobaccoanalysis.blogspot.com 10/23)
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