A Virginia man has become one of the most recent plaintiffs to file suit against drug manufacturer Pfizer due to side effects he suffered as a result of smoking cessation drug Chantix. With the help of a Chantix lawyer, Jonathan L. Wince filed suit on the 5th of January, 2012, in the Circuit Court for Montgomery County, Maryland. According to the claim filed by his Chantix lawyer, Wince has been the victim of several serious Chantix side effects. His case joins a number of others that have already been filed because of serious Chantix psychological side effects.
Luckily for Wince and his loved ones, his case did not become a Chantix suicide lawsuit. A number of patients have actually committed suicide and their family members are taking legal action against Pfizer because of this, claiming that Chantix caused or contributed to their loved one's suicide. Wince experienced suicidal thoughts, however, along with a number of other side effects: severe emotional distress, panic attacks, lethargy, confusion, Chantix depression, Chantix suicidal thoughts, memory loss, anxiety, aggression, manic behavior, physical pain, and intestinal bleeding. He allegedly began experiencing these things after being prescribed the drug to help him quit smoking on January 3, 2009.
Wince's Chantix lawsuit is seeking damages from Pfizer, $5 million in compensatory damages and $10 million in punitive ones. One of the allegations brought up by Wince's Chantix lawyer is that Pfizer was negligent in clinical testing and in warning patients of the potential risk. Clinical testing for Chantix excluded patients with a history of mental illness, even though these people are unusually likely to use Chantix and also more likely to experience some of the more severe Chantix side effects. The lawsuit also claims that Pfizer knew or should have known of the risks associated with Chantix and should have warned patients more thoroughly of the potential side effects.
Cited in the lawsuit are studies linking Chantix to psychological side effects, including research that showed patients using Chantix were three times more likely to experience Chantix suicidal thoughts in clinical trials than patients who were taking a placebo.
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