Heart Attacks And Suicide Lead To Chantix Lawsuits

In January of this year, David Collins killed himself with a shotgun just three months after he began taking Chantix (varenicline) a smoking cessation drug made by Pfizer. Linda Collins who is David Collins widow has filed a lawsuit in Indianapolis against Pfizer over Chantix side effects and its possible failure to provide warnings to users. Mr. Collins had no prior history of mental illness, but before his suicide Mr. Collins exhibited aggression and strange behavior. Lawsuits allege that Pfizer was negligent because it manufactured and marketed an unsafe drug. The FDA approved Chantix in May 2006. By the end of 2006, Chantix was listed among a group of 35 drugs that received more than 100 serious injury reports per calendar quarter. By mid-2007, Chantix ranked third among all drugs in reported problems.

In the last quarter of 2007, Chantix users reported 988 adverse events, more than any other marketed drug. Lawsuits assert that Pfizer should be held strictly liable for manufacturing and marketing this unsafe drug. Drug manufacturers must perform clinical tests before drugs are marketed. The manufacturer must ensure that the drugs are safe and effective. Chantix lawsuits claim that Pfizer did not perform enough clinical trials before it marketed Chantix. Pfizer failed to conduct Chantix studies using individuals with psychiatric histories or current psychiatric symptoms. Lawsuits allege that if sufficient pre-market testing was performed, Pfizer may have determined that Chantix depression and suicide had a link.

Last month, the FDA warned that, in addition to the risk of increased aggressive behavior, some users of the stop-smoking drug Chantix may face an increased risk of heart attacks and other heart problems. Chantix has already been linked to an increased risk of a number of potential health problems. The FDA issued the warning after reviewing data from a clinical trial involving 700 smokers, half of whom were given Chantix instead of a placebo to help them quit smoking. Researchers found that 2% of the users of Chantix suffered a heart attack within a year, twice as many as smokers given a placebo, among the other heart problems.