The new study, published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, included the results of 14 random, blinded clinical trials that monitored cardiovascular health in more than 8,000 patients taking either Chantix or a placebo. Collectively, the trials found that 52 smokers in the Chantix groups suffered a heart attack, stroke, or other serious cardiovascular event while just 27 smokers taking placebo experienced the same cardiovascular problems. According to the New York Times, the “weighted, relative difference” between the two groups was 72 percent.

In the real world, the findings of these two latest Chantix studies mean that “doctors could expect to get one extra cardiac event associated with Chantix for every 28 smokers they treated with the drug,” the New York Times reported.

“We have known for many years that Chantix is one of the most harmful prescription drugs on the U.S. market, based on the number of serious adverse effects reported to the F.D.A.,” said Dr. Curt D. Furberg, a Wake Forest professor of medicine and senior author of the new report. “It causes loss of consciousness, visual disturbances, suicides, violence, depression and worsening of diabetes. To this list we now can add serious cardiovascular events.”

Dr. Furberg said that there were safer ways for smokers to quit and called for Chantix to be removed from the market.

“It piles up,” Dr. Furberg told the New York Times. “I don’t see how the F.D.A. can leave Chantix on the market.”

The study’s lead author, Dr. Sonal Singh, an assistant professor of medicine at Johns Hopkins University, said that since Chantix gained market approval in 2006, both Pfizer and the FDA have ignored signs that it might be linked to increased cardiovascular risks.

“The F.D.A. should have already put it on their warning label,” Dr. Singh said. “The risk is substantial, the risk is present in smokers without heart disease, and Pfizer knew about this for five years.”

“This would have raised a red flag for us if the flag hadn’t already been flying,” Dr. Celia Winchell, a leader in the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research told the New York Times. However, short of a recall, the new findings are likely to have little impact on the FDA’s treatment of Chanitx because the drug already carries the agency’s strongest black-box warnings.

Since its debut, Chantix has been prescribed to 13 million people. Last year, the drug earned Pfizer $775 million in sales.

SOURCE: Chantix Recall › Chantix significantly increases cardiovascular risks, according to another new study

The FDA said that a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial of 700 smokers were given Chantix or a placebo. All of the participating smokers had been previously diagnosed with heart disease. Although results found the risks to be relatively small, after 12 weeks more than twice as many Chantix patients suffered heart-related problems than the placebo patients. Seven out of 353 Chantix patients had a nonfatal heart attack, versus 3 out of 350 of the placebo patients.

Other adverse events reported to be more frequent in the Chantix group included angina pectoris, nonfatal myocardial infarction, need for coronary revascularization, and new diagnosis of peripheral vascular disease or admission for a procedure for the treatment of peripheral vascular disease.

The FDA advises that patients taking Chantix should check with their doctor if they have new or worsening symptoms of heart disease, such as difficulty breathing, chest pain or pain while walking.

Shortly after Chantix first became available in the U.S. in 2006, patients began reporting negative side effects to the FDA, most notably for suicidal thoughts and actions. In 2009, the FDA required Chantix to carry a black box warning, the agency’s strongest warning, because of persistent complaints about depression, violent mood swings, vivid dreams and nightmares, and suicidal behaviors.

Source:

http://www.fda.gov/Safety/MedWatch/SafetyInformation/SafetyAlertsforHumanMedicalProducts/ucm259469.htm

http://www.chantix-legal.com/news/2009/07/01/fda-now-requiring-stronger-warnings-on-chantix-labels/

http://www.chantix-legal.com/news/2011/05/31/chantix-suicides-and-violence-much-more-common-newly-found-reports-show/

SOURCE: Chantix Recall › FDA warns of new heart risks associated with Chantix

When Thomas J. Moore analyzed data collected from the FDA’s Adverse Events Reporting System (AERS), he found nearly 600 reports of serious adverse reactions, including 150 suicides, were mixed in with 26,000 records of non-serious side effects such as nausea and skin irritations. These “missing” reports, some of which go back to 2006, also include accounts of uncharacteristic aggression and hostility, violent outbursts, severe nightmares, and debilitating depression.

In an interview with MSNBC, Mr. Moore said the situation represents “a major breakdown in safety surveillance.”

Chantix has long been blamed for causing severe psychosomatic distress in people who use the drug to ease the cravings for cigarettes while trying to quit smoking. Even before the additional reports of hostilities and suicides were discovered, Chantix has topped the list of the most dangerous FDA-approved drugs.

“It’s really chilling,” Moore added. “This seems to unleash something in people. It can be violence to anything around.”

Until July 2010, the FDA received 122 reports of suicide linked to Chantix, less than the number of suicides contained in the newly discovered reports. Mr. Moore also found the 589 concealed included 102 cases of hostility and aggression, 156 cases of depression, and 56 cases of possible psychosis.

Although Pfizer willfully included these reports with those of less serious side effects, technically the pharmaceutical giant wasn’t breaking the law. The FDA’s reporting system contains two channels through which adverse reactions are reported by drug companies. The “expedited” channel is for serious and unexpected injuries that drug makers must report within 15 days. The other “periodic” channel is for less-serious and expected adverse reactions, which drug companies must report quarterly.

Believe it or not, the FDA does not require companies to submit new reports of death and serious injury in the “expedited” channel for urgent review when such adverse events are already known to exist. This provision allowed Pfizer to include the suicides, suicide attempts, depression, and violent outbursts in with the less-serious, expected adverse events where they went overlooked.

The reported serious side effects were further obscured when Pfizer combined summaries and individual case reports into a s single text file instead of logging them into the AERS system individually, which dramatically reduced the occurrence of serious side effects linked to the drug.

Just as outrageously, the FDA seems to recognize the flaws in its reporting requirements, but isn’t in a rush to fix them. According to MSNBC, “FDA officials said they are considering changing regulations to allow expedited reports of suicides and other serious problems, even if they’ve previously been identified as expected. First proposed in 2003, that change is still pending.”

U.S. doctors prescribed Chantix 3.2 million times last year to smokers trying to kick the habit. The drug has been prescribed 1.1 million times so far this year.

Source:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/43187290/ns/health-health_care/

SOURCE: Chantix Recall › Chantix suicides and violence much more common, newly found reports show

Data pulled from the FDA’s Adverse Event Reporting System (AERS) between October and December of 2008 suggested that Chantix may be linked to the side effects. The FDA will continue to monitor Chantix for an unspecified length of time until it determines what, if any, regulatory action is needed.

The FDA does not fully test prescription drugs for safety before allowing them to enter into the market. Why? It’s a matter of logistics more than anything. Typically, FDA studies are designed to measure a drug’s effectiveness using thousands of patients who willingly participate in pre-market clinical trials. These patients obviously represent a very small slice of U.S. population. The FDA also relies on studies conducted by the pharmaceutical companies themselves to determine how effective test drugs are. If new drugs that have passed tests for efficacy appear to be reasonably safe, then FDA researchers give them the green light.

The FDA, incidentally, reviewed Chantix in six months rather than the regular review time of 10 months.

The millions of people in the U.S. and around the world who started taking Chantix when it debuted on the world market in May 2006 became patients in the world’s first mass clinical trial. Most people assume that the FDA seal of approval means that the drug will be perfectly safe, but the truth is that most of a drug’s risks are not known until it is prescribed to millions of consumers.

The first reports of adverse events linked to Chantix emerged just months after the drug was released to the public. On February 1, 2008, the FDA issued a statement saying “it appears increasingly likely that there is an association between Chantix and serious neuropsychiatric symptoms.”

By May 2008, Chantix was linked to more than 3,000 reports of serious side effects. By November of the same year, data from the FDA’s Adverse Event Reporting System showed that more reported serious injuries resulted from Chantix than any other prescription drug.

SOURCE: Chantix Recall › FDA monitoring Chantix for serious risks, new safety concerns

The Journal Sentinel explains that Wisconsin physicians must complete 30 credits worth of continuing medical education (CME) courses every 2 years by law. The courses, which UW offers online, earn doctors up to 2 credits per course. Of the 9 online CME courses, the Journal Sentinel found that 4 were funded by pharmaceutical companies. Doctors may take those courses free of charge, but must pay a fee to enroll in any of the university-funded courses.

Pfizer is one of the companies funding an online course at UW that instructs doctors how to help their patients quit smoking. Pfizer gave UW $12.3 million for the course, which showcases Chantix as the latest and greatest smoking cessation method. The course materials do not mention the serious risks of taking Chantix, even though numbers pulled from the Food and Drug Administration’s Adverse Event Reporting System revealed that Chantix topped the list of the country’s most dangerous drugs.

Chantix has developed a favorable reputation among some people who have successfully quit smoking while taking the drug, but it has also been linked to a number of suicides and other episodes of abnormal and psychotic behavior.

Another CME course on premenstrual dysphoric disorder offered by UW is also funded by Pfizer. The course was designed by psychiatrists who have financial ties to the drug company. The course cites Xanax as a form of treatment for the disorder, “but fails to point out that only 37% of women who took it had significant improvement, compared with 30% who got a placebo.

The course also does not mention Xanax’s side effects, including the potential of dependency,” said the Journal Sentinel. “Several of the drugs promoted in the course are not approved by the FDA to treat the condition and have serious side effects not mentioned on the course Web site, including depression, stroke and blood clots,” the paper reported.

The Journal Sentinel points out that no written agreement between the drug companies and the university exists, but reciprocation is nevertheless expected.

“What you are seeing in Wisconsin is just another example of what is going on all over the country,” Arnold Relman, professor emeritus at Harvard Medical School and a former editor of the New England Journal of Medicine, told the Journal Sentinel.

“It’s unethical, and it is not in the public interest because it is going to bias doctors to use certain drugs,” he told the paper.

Daniel Carlat, a clinical professor of psychiatry at Tufts University Medical School, told the Journal Sentinel that “drug companies have found this to be a highly effective way to attract the attention of physicians.” To stay licensed, doctors must enroll in the classes. Therefore, companies such as Pfizer have a captive audience, he explained.

According to the Journal Sentinel, “Critics say the practice increases medical costs by encouraging doctors to write prescriptions for expensive brand-name drugs and by exaggerating the frequency and prevalence of rare conditions. It also promotes the use of drugs not approved for the ailments.”

Ten years ago, pharmaceutical companies spent $302 million on doctor education courses. In 2006, that amount had swollen to $1.2 billion.

“Drug companies have essentially hijacked the highest level of medical education we have in this country,” Carlat told the Journal Sentinel.

SOURCE: Chantix Recall › Pfizer and other drug companies fund medical courses

The dramatic increase of pharmaceutical drug related injuries occurred in the first three months of 2008, during which time 20,745 serious side effects and more than 4,800 deaths were reported. The incidents represent a 38 percent rise over the previous four quarters and constitute the single highest spike yet recorded.

Prescription drug related death historically accounts for 16 percent of all serious cases reported. That number soared to 23 percent in the first quarter of 2008.

According to the FDA standards, a serious drug reaction is one that leads to medical intervention or hospitalization and jeopardizes the life of the user. AERS data comes from reports that are voluntarily submitted by medical professionals. The data is generally regarded as a small representation of a much larger picture.

According to ISMP, “Some of the increases in quarterly totals could represent normal variation in the flow of reports rather than signaling a long-term trend in patient safety. However, the data are compelling and should serve as one source of information regarding drug safety in the US.”

More reported serious injuries result from Chantix usage than any other prescription drug. Chantix accounted for 1,001 new cases of serious injury, including 50 deaths.

Pfizer refuted the FDA data and ISMP’s interpretation of it. “Based on [the] totality of data, we stand by the efficacy and safety profile of Chantix when used as directed,” said Pfizer spokeswoman Kristen Neese in a statement.

SOURCE: Chantix Recall › Chantix plays role in record number of drug reactions

More than 1,000 complications were reported in the first quarter of 2008, including 15 traffic accidents, 52 incidents of loss of consciousness and blackouts, and 50 deaths.

Reports of adverse effects among users taking Chantix were greater than any other prescription drug for the second quarter in a row.

While the drug already urges caution while driving and operating machinery, the new reports suggest a stronger warning may be justified. The Food and Drug Administration is currently reviewing the data to determine if Chantix should carry warnings against driving and operating machinery altogether.

“FDA confirms that there are reports of accidents, including road traffic accidents, after the use of varenicline in the Adverse Event Reporting System. The FDA is reviewing these reports to see if current labeling related to accidents after varenicline is adequate,” said FDA spokesman Christopher DiFrancesco in an email to Reuters.

Earlier this year, the Federal Aviation Administration banned pilots and air traffic controllers from using Chantix. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration also prohibited the use of Chantix.

“It appears that medical examiners should not certify a driver taking Chantix because the medication may adversely affect the driver’s ability to safely operate a commercial motor vehicle,” FMCSA Administrator John H. Hill said in a public statement.

Chantix sales in the U.S. declined more than a third following warnings about dangerous side effects and a subsequent suspension of Pfizer’s advertising campaign. Sales outside of the U.S. rose by 3 percent.

Chantix plays a key role in Pfizer’s financial pipeline as its other blockbuster drug Lipitor will go generic after July 2010.

SOURCE: Chantix Recall › Researchers recommend new Chantix warnings

Thomas J. Moore, an independent researcher who analyzed the safety of Chantix for the FDA, told the Associated Press that he was particularly concerned about the non-psychiatric side effects Chantix has on some users. These effects include vision problems, disturbances of heart rhythm, seizures, skin reactions, aggression, and loss of consciousness, among others. In themselves, some of these side effects aren’t deadly. However, when they occur within the context of driving or operating heavy equipment, they may be very harmful, if not fatal.

A study of “adverse events” reports conducted by the Institute for Safe Medication Practices contained the following warning:

“We have immediate safety concerns about the use of [Chantix] among persons operating aircraft, trains, buses and other vehicles, or in other settings where a lapse in alertness or motor control could lead to massive, serious injury.”

In May, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) banned pilots and air traffic controllers from using Chantix. In August, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration prohibited the use of Chantix without naming the drug specifically.

Late last year, Chantix claimed first place on a list of drugs with the most reported side-effect related problems. Traffic accidents ranked second in Chantix-related injuries, with 28 accidents directly attributed to use of the drug. Loss of consciousness, dizziness, confusion, and muscle spasms were the causes cited.

It’s important to keep these warnings in mind if you use Chantix and drive. Stay focused and alert; if you feel confused or dizzy, pull over immediately because the safety of you, your passengers, and everyone around you may be in jeopardy.

SOURCE: Chantix Recall › Chantix played role in traffic accidents

Chantix is known to create or worsen several neuropsychiatric conditions including suicidal thought and actions.

All of the 940 veterans in the VA study had been diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). 143 of those veterans were selected to receive Chantix. Those veterans were given the drug and $30 monthly payments.

The FDA published its first Chantix warning on Nov. 20, 2007, with subsequent warnings from the FDA and the manufacturer Pfizer. Three months passed, however, before the VA notified all relevant doctors and staff involved in the study, and even then, there was no mention of suicide.

James Peake, Veterans Affairs Secretary, said that the 940 veterans in the study would receive a personal warning letter from him. Another 31,000 additional veterans would receive the same warning, he told The Washington Times.

Peake also disclosed that 26 of the study’s PTSD veterans experienced adverse events, including three reports of contemplated suicide.

The drug’s propensity to ignite suicidal thoughts and actions, especially in patients with heightened emotional and mental volatility, was the central concern of those calling for an end to the VA study.

While the VA does not intend to stop the study prematurely, it has said that it will end the study if necessary. New subjects are not being enrolled in the study.

SOURCE: Chantix Recall › VA warns veterans about the dangers of Chantix

As a result of its study, the ISMP is recommending the FDA strengthen warnings on the drug, which has been prescribed to more than 3 million people since it was approved in May 2006. Also as a result of the report, the Federal Aviation Administration banned use of Chantix by pilots and air traffic controllers.

The Bloomberg story cites FDA spokesperson Susan Cruzan as saying the ISMP study will prompt the FDA to conduct immediate further research to confirm numbers. Because the FDA’s adverse event reporting system is voluntary, she is cited as saying, there are no controls in place to determine if the reported side effects are the result of Chantix use, or if they are coming from another drug that reporters may be using.

SOURCE: Chantix Recall › More than 3,000 side effect reports