Serious Adverse Events Linked to Chantix

Over 1000 serious adverse events associated with Chantix were reported in the first quarter of 2008. Chantix is a smoking cessation drug marketed by Pfizer. According to a drug safety watchdog group, due to the adverse event figures, Chantix is at the top of a list of drugs linked to serious injuries for that particular time period. The 1001 serious adverse events for the first quarter of 2008 include 50 deaths. The Institute for Safe Medication Practices gathered its information from the FDA’s adverse event reporting system, but notes that the actual number of injuries may be higher due to the voluntary nature of the FDA’s post-market surveillance system. The FDA has warned of suicide ideation among Chantix users. Since the FDA approved Chantix in 2006, there have been 3325 serious injuries reported, which include 112 deaths in the U.S.