Heart Risks Added to Chantix Health Concerns

A new Canadian study has concluded that smokers who take Pfizer’s Chantix may be at an increased risk of heart problems. Researchers said the smoking cessation drug could cause heart attacks and irregular heartbeats, as well as changes in behavior and suicidal thoughts or actions. Chantix carries a black box warning (the FDA’s most restrictive e safety labeling) about the latter side effect.

The researchers examined data from clinical trials involving 8,216 healthy people who received either Chantix or a placebo. Serious heart problems were reported in 52 people out of the 4,908 (1.6 %) who took Chantix, as compared to 27 of the 3,308 people who took the placebo. Researchers used a statistical method to determine that the risk of heart problems arrived at 72%.

The drug raised a smoker’s baseline risk of having heart attacks, congestive heart failure, or other problems that include irregular heart beat. Pfizer is working with the FDA to design a comprehensive look at existing research to evaluate the safety of Chantix.

Almost 2,000 cases are pending in the federal court system related to the drug’s neuropsychiatric effects, many of which involve suicides or attempted suicides.

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