Remember a Generation of 'Willpower' and not a Generation of Popping Pills?

Pfizer disagrees with the FDA, but must turnover all of its data regarding adverse cardiovascular events to the FDA. Chantix serves as a reminder that a pill cannot cure everything.

These results are troubling to many doctors, especially since Chantix is supposed to help reduce the risk of heart attack that comes from smoking.

(MYRTLE BEACH, S.C.) - Having a problem giving up smoking cigarettes?  Know that you are cutting years off your life with this unhealthy "habit?"  Habit?  Yes that's the word.  Go to your personal physician and to help you trade the coughing, potential emphysema, cancer, and shortened life expectancy -- let's prescribe you some Chantix.

Interested in what you are trading the health dangers of smoking for when you are prescribed the "miracle" drug to quit cigarettes once and for all?  The pharmaceutical company Pfizer is the maker of the "quit smoking in a pill" quick fix.  The Food & Drug Administration (FDA) approved Chantix in 2006.

Of course, the FDA would never approve any drug that could potentially cause harm to the patient -- even death -- would they now?  Studies indicate Chantix puts patients at increased risk for heart attacks -- even if the patient has no history of cardiac problems.

The ever diligent FDA -- as the watchdog of the American people -- had Pfizer put a warning on Chantix warning of potential cardiac problems while taking the drug.

In 14 studies conducted over the past five years, researchers found that 72 percent of the more than 8,000 patients studied had an increased risk of being hospitalized with a heart attack or serious heart problem, compared to those taking a placebo. Smokers taking Chantix who had never had heart disease were at a 150 percent increased risk of experiencing an adverse heart event.

These results are troubling to many doctors, especially since Chantix is supposed to help reduce the risk of heart attack that comes from smoking. Researchers now believe the drug is doing exactly what it’s trying to prevent.  Scary?  Keep reading.

Some physicians have had concerns about Chantix dating back to its release on the market in 2006. Dr. John Spangler, a co-author of research findings, says he raised concerns about the drug and its effect on the heart in 2006 during the drug’s approval process, but that his warnings were ignored by both the FDA and Pfizer, meaning neither patients nor physicians were warned of the risk at the time.  www.pharmalot.com/2008/06/chantix-long-term-data-was-downplayed-expert/

When asked why the FDA did not see fit to warn doctors and patients about the drug's risks in 2006, it responded that the data at the time was too inconsistent for a warning label. Since its approval, Chantix has been the subject of several FDA safety reviews, including one for depression and suicide. In 2009, the FDA issued a black box warning, the strongest warning issued by the FDA, regarding the risk of depression and suicide for patients taking Chantix.

Only recently has the FDA seen fit to issue a new warning, after findings from a 2010 study conducted by Dr. Nancy Rigotti, a professor at Harvard Medical School and the director of Mass General’s Tobacco Research & Treatment Unit, found that there is an increased risk of adverse cardiovascular events in patients taking the drug.

Sales of Chantix topped $755 million in 2010, putting millions of people worldwide at risk for depression, an adverse cardiac event, or even a loss of consciousness, visual disturbances, violent outbursts, or a worsening of diabetes.

With the new warning, doctors are limiting or discontinuing the use of Chantix by their patients. Dr. Jay Cohn of the Rasmussen Center for Cardiovascular Disease Prevention at the University of Minnesota is in favor of the FDA’s new warning, saying “[t]he data . . . justify a black box warning on Chantix labeling about cardiovascular risk.”

Pfizer disagrees with the results of the studies relied upon by the FDA, but must turnover all of its data regarding adverse cardiovascular events to the FDA. Chantix serves as a reminder that a pill cannot cure everything.

Kay Van Wey, Texas attorney, exposed the dangers of Chantix on her Pill Mill Monitor blog.  I would like to thank her for educating the public about dangerous drugs on the market -- and allowing me to share this information in my article.  www.pillmillmonitor.com/promo/about/

For anyone being prescribed Chantix to find "willpower in a pill" -- you will not only have the risk of a heart attack, suicidal tendencies, depression, nightmares, vomiting, nausea, stomach upset and violent and paranoid behavior -- all these potentially dangerous side effects -- and for what?  Statistics show that 80% of patients taking Chantix are not able to kick the habit of smoking.

As the FDA "protects" the American people from dangerous drugs, Pfizer enjoys annual revenue of approximately $800 million for Chantix.  Think the FDA may be blowing smoke up someone and allowing Pfizer to come out the winner by having Chantix stay on the market?

LP -- For my botanicals, swanettes, love, faith, sharing, laughter, Orson Wells and the Venetian blinds -- you are priceless.

Marianne is a nurse having graduated in 1991 as president of her graduating class. She also has a Paralegal certification. Marianne served on a Community Service Board for the Courier News, a Gannet newspaper in NJ writing articles predominantly regarding AIDS patients and their emotional issues. She was awarded a Community Service Award in 1993 by the Hunterdon County, NJ HIV/AIDS Task Force in recognition of and appreciation for the donated time, energy and love in facilitating a Support Group for persons with HIV/AIDS.