Beasley, Allen, Crow, Methvin, Portis & Miles, P.C.

CNN reports that Pfizer is thinking about launching a clinical test to determine if Chantix can help prevent smokers from having heart attacks. Considering all the negative publicity that has surrounded the drug over the last one and a half years, it’s understandable that Pfizer would want to invest a good deal of time and money in finding some benefit … even if they locate just one slightly dubious side effect, such as a reduced risk of heart attack in people who have quit smoking.

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A group of scientists at the Food and Drug Administration has sent a letter to President-elect Obama and his transition team, urging a clean-up of the government agency. The letter says that widespread mismanagement and incompetence in the agency have “placed the American public at risk.”

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In September, we learned that those long Chantix ads featuring the tortoise and the hare were reappearing on TV after Pfizer yanked them from the airwaves for several months. The drug maker pulled the ads when it became evident that a link existed between Chantix, depression, and suicide. Unfortunately, the new ads were even longer than the original by 30 seconds — for a total of 90 seconds — to accommodate all the new warnings.

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By now we know that Chantix is dangerous for some people who use the drug, but mounting evidence suggests that people who don’t use it may also be harmed. Since Chantix became available for smoking cessation in August of 2006, the FDA has received a steady influx of reports connecting the drug to traffic accidents. Moreover, while the medical community and the media are focused on the negative psychiatric effects that some Chantix users experience, researchers now believe that the non-psychiatric effects may be worse.

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Next week, Pfizer will once again be running Chantix ads on television. Pfizer stopped running Chantix ads last year amid increasing concern over the drug’s side effects. The familiar tortoise and the hare ads will resume on Sunday, September 14, with lengthened warnings about potential side effects. The extended warnings will occupy 41 seconds of the ad, which will run for 90 seconds – 30 seconds longer than the old ads.

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