FDA: Anti smoking drug Chantix linked to more than 500 suicides

[Anjaffm]

It's not "commit suicide" it's "suicidal thoughts or suicidal ideation". They don't go as far as saying you could commit suicide although suicidal ideation often leads to suicide.

I was not talking about the ads for the product.
I was talking about the reported "side effects" of the product.
Now, 544 suicides and 1800+ attempted suicides are quite serious "side effects" if you ask me.

Especially for a ... excuse the wording ... "lifestyle drug".
(Which is not the only "lifestyle drug" sold by that manufacturer. It is well known which lifestyle drug they are most famous for, those little blue thingies. Kind of makes me wonder whether they wish to test those on adolescents as well. Hm.. maybe better not ... )

 

[RosaJ]

It's not "commit suicide" it's "suicidal thoughts or suicidal ideation". They don't go as far as saying you could commit suicide although suicidal ideation often leads to suicide.

There's no way of knowing how many did do themselves in (I don't like the word suicide). In those cases, I'm sure they would show "Smoker" in the death certificate as the cause.

 

[DustyZ]

I'm not joking when I say EVERY Chantix commercial I've ever seen makes me laugh, and I usually wonder if it is a spoof, especially after seeing the one done on SNL. I honestly can't understand any appeal that Chantix has, when I see the commercials.

The commercial alone is one that you would think would make most people NOT want to take it, for a commercial that is 1:22 long and 95% of it is warning of possible adverse reactions, how can this honesty be taken as a positive option for anything much less to stop smoking. And this is supported by the FDA, it speaks volumes about how much they actually care about the public's health, we all know it's money related and has nothing to do with Health!

 

[Jman8]

I also don't see how a reasonable person could say that using Chantix is better than smoking. I think the idea that not to many would dispute that shows that Chantix is not the way to go, if sanity or health actually matter.

 

[Vocalek]

Kind of an aside, but has anyone noticed a new phrase in the chantix commercials? I don't know if they have always said this, and maybe I'm just more attuned to it now, but I've noticed the phrase, "I didn't want to use nicotine to quit nicotine". I have been wondering if that is a reaction directed somewhat at electronic cigarettes

Absolutely! I don't want to use nicotine to quit nicotine. I'd much rather use a substance that will turn me into a homicidal maniac.

 

[MorpheusPA]

Don't feel as if you MUST cut your nicotine down and out in order to be "cured." Switching to a smoke-free source of nicotine reduces your risks of smoking related diseases by about 99%.

If you feel you must get rid of that remaining 1%, then that's all right, too. We all need to do what is best for us, rather than what someone else tells us must be best for us.

If you feel just fine when you lower your nicotine, maybe you don't have any of the conditions that are kept in check by nicotine. If, however, when you lower your nicotine you don't feel like yourself--a little edgy, a little down, a little confused--don't try to cut down any more until you feel normal again. If you don't get back to feeling normal within a reasonable time frame (in your judgement), then maybe you want to consider going back up the level where you felt like yourself.

Excellent advice! I've worked my way down from 22 mg/ml to 6 mg/ml in the last year. I feel fine, but take the drops very gently and very slowly. I know my relapse risk is heightened if I try to do too much at once.

For the whole holiday season, I'm going to stay at 6. Since I don't care for the season, or the stress it causes, moving downward would be unwise.

 

[Orb Skewer]

This, it is amazing what a few hundred people with $500 computers and the truth can do to a multi-million dollar propaganda campaign.

Indeed it is

http://dickpuddlecote.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/the-european-union-and-rotten-hand-of.html

 

[AgentAnia]

Puddlecote is one of my heroes. From his blog post that Orb links to:

This has always been the strength of the vaping community. Despite public health tax spongers continually pretending that objectors are merely front groups for whatever industry they are trying to destroy at any particular time, vapers are real people and can't be ignored. Politicians are timid souls, always easily scared at the thought of bad press from bully-boy prohibitionists, but they're far more terrified of real people holding them and their stupid pronouncements to account.

 

[Wes F.]

Actually the more you pick through that article the worse it gets. One of the links just goes to what amounts to no more than a "We WON!!! (The lawyers, that is.) Yahoo!!!" press release from the law firm handling the class action - no information to be had there other than that, and the dollar amount.

And I love the quote, supposedly attributed to Thomas J. Moore: "'People who carry weapons for a living such as police officers and military should not take a drug, which can cause – and this is well-documented – uncontrollable rage,' he said."

Not gonna comment... not gonna do it... regarding which gun totin' members of the public Chantix would be okey dokey for, but which gun totin' members of the public should probably not take it. This country is crazy to begin with, 'spose a little Chantix thrown into the mix wouldn't hurt that much. Next we'll have BP coming out with some kind of "Chantix doesn't kill people. Only bad people who take Chantix kill people..." campaign to counter that quote.

In reference to your quote, I'm an MP in the military. I used Chantix back in 2010 for approximately three months. It worked great in regards to not smoking, the other side affects were horrible though. I could only sleep an hour or two a day, my mood swings were... Aggressive, borderline psychotic, I felt like shooting everyone in sight most days (I carried a side arm in performance of my duties all day) and to top it all off when I quit taking the stuff I started having seizures (no prior history) and almost got kicked out of the military. Bottom line, the stuff is horrible and will ruin your life. It took a year of medical hold for me to recover and salvage my career. I think Obama should take it to quit smoking, lololololol

 

[stevegmu]

Are 500 suicides out of 20 million who have taken the drug a lot?

 

[Chablo]

I took chantix for 12 weeks it was the most horrific experience I had. I was so depressed for no reason and to top it off my ex was cheating on me. I almost committed suicide. Thank god there were no bullets. Not a proud moment in my life and the drug ....ed me up sooo much. Please if anyone ever thinks of taking this please for yourself and your loved ones stay away from it! The night terrors alone were bad. I woke up screaming at the top of my lungs most nights. My mom succeeded with quitting smoking with chantix but a year later passed from copd and emphysema. It all depends on the user but if I could give advice just stay away before you find out it could seriously cause life damage!

 

[Sane Asylum]

Are 500 suicides out of 20 million who have taken the drug a lot?

Yeah, when we're talking about pill to quit smoking cigarettes.

This article about someone's experience, and of course it's not everyone's experience, is quite scary. I'd rather smoke than possibly go through something like this.

One Man's Experience With the Stop-Smoking Drug Chantix -- New York Magazine

 

[stevegmu]

Yeah, when we're talking about pill to quit smoking cigarettes.

This article about someone's experience, and of course it's not everyone's experience, is quite scary. I'd rather smoke than possibly go through something like this.

One Man's Experience With the Stop-Smoking Drug Chantix -- New York Magazine

More than 500 people out of 20 million who have smoked have died from health issues tied to smoking. If 501 lives are saved due to taking Chantix and quitting smoking, it would seem there is a benefit.

I would never have taken the drug, either. I don't believe in taking prescriptions for something that can be cured without them, but, I do think there is a bit of sensationalism involved here.

For every horror story there are probably 1000 that have a happy ending.

 

[Sane Asylum]

More than 500 people out of 20 million who have smoked have died from health issues tied to smoking. If 501 lives are saved due to taking Chantix and quitting smoking, it would seem there is a benefit.

I would never have taken the drug, either. I don't believe in taking prescriptions for something that can be cured without them, but, I do think there is a bit of sensationalism involved here.

For every horror story there are probably 1000 that have a happy ending.

The problem with this is that it's fine if you benefit from taking the drug. If the effects of the drug cause you to commit suicide.... You also have to take into consideration that out of the 20 million, how many were successful in quitting smoking? Supposedly around 14 percent? And yes, more than 500 have probably died from the effects of smoking but they probably would have lived longer if they had just continued smoking rather than taking this drug.

 

[NorthOfAtlanta]

I think Obama should take it to quit smoking, lololololol

Are we sure he didn't?

 

[WhiteHighlights]

More than 500 people out of 20 million who have smoked have died from health issues tied to smoking. If 501 lives are saved due to taking Chantix and quitting smoking, it would seem there is a benefit.

I would never have taken the drug, either. I don't believe in taking prescriptions for something that can be cured without them, but, I do think there is a bit of sensationalism involved here.

For every horror story there are probably 1000 that have a happy ending.

Yes, there were 544 suicides, but there were also 1,869 attempted suicides. 2,700 people sued Pfizer so even more were harmed than the 2,413 suicide/attempted suicide cited in this report. I'd bet the true number harmed is even higher. We know how numbers can be played with to get the result you want - for example, they could have downgraded the classification of a side effect (i.e. from major to minor). I believe the risk is very real for something with a low success rate.

 

[HawaiiVPR]

Well, I guess you take the Chantix, possibly quit smoking but then have to deal with the side effects, such as psychosis, ........, liver damage, bleeding, etc... But, fortunately, the pharma companies have more pills to deal with all of that too, and the side effects that those pills can cause are curable with other pills... to which you either end up in giant a circle and start smoking again, or commit suicide... ah choices, choices...

 

[Orb Skewer]

Out of the several million worldwide smokers who have made the switch to vaping-not one suicide linked to the use of these devices has been reported over a 5 year period.


Suicides

Chantix 500 (appr)
Vaping 0 (appr)

 

[AgentAnia]

Since both nicotine and Chantix are psychoactive drugs, I'm surprised a maker of any of the patches, gum, or lozenges hasn't come up with this tag line for an ad: "I don't want to use a psychoactive drug to quit a psychoactive drug."...

 

[Uma]

Just what an early teen needs, another drug that effs with their mind at one of the hardest stages of their life.

Exactly. Even us adults! Those who somehow skipped having "mind" problems from their years of being bullied (peer pressure is itself a form of bullying also), matured into silent adults who then became GLOBALLY BULLIED, just because they enjoy tobacco.
Step 1. Bully the smoker.
Step 2. Convince the smoker to take Chantix
step 3.

How to stop/prevent bullying, by gov, is a guideline for bullies on HOW to bully.
Notice, the "Silent Adults" group who can't rely on other adults to help. (Way wah, poor baby, grow up, get over it, who cares, you should stop smoking, you don't need to be vaping, do it cold turkey like I did, I'm tired of hearing about your rights what about mine, blablabla).

http://www.stopbullying.gov/images/what-you-need-to-know-infographic.jpg

Bully the people, push the products, raise the taxes, rinse repeat