Chantix Violence, Suicide Questions Lead France to Pull Subsidies

Increasing questions over serious and potentially life-threatning psychological side effects of Chantix, Pfizer’s smoking cessation drug, have convinced officials in France that the drug should no longer be subsidized in the country. 

On May 31, French Health Minister Xavier Bertrand announced that Chantix, known there as Champix, will no longer be covered by the nation’s health insurance. That means that French citizens will have to pay out-of-pocket to acquire the drug.

Bertrand linked the decision to pull subsidies directly to increasing concerns over violent and suicidal behavior attributed to the use of the drug by people trying to quit smoking.

Pfizer officials have indicated they were surprised by the decision and are seeking clarification from European Union health officials, who had previously given the stop-smoking drug a positive risk-benefit rating.

Chantix (varenicline) was approved in the United States by the FDA in 2006 as a prescription medication to help people quit smoking. The drug works by reducing the positive feelings that come from cigarettes, blocking the receptors in the brain commonly stimulated by nicotine. However, the impact of the drug on the brain has resulted in a number of reports from users who experienced sudden, unusually aggressive behavior, thoughts of self-harm and suicide.

Questions over Chantix safety first gained national attention in 2007, following the death of Carter Albrecht, a popular musician in the Dallas area and a member of Edie Brickell and the New Bohemians. Albrecht was shot to death after he began violently banging on a neighbor’s door in the middle of the night. His family later filed a Chantix wrongful death lawsuit alleging that his actions were caused by hallucinations, vivid nightmares and a violent shift in behavior that started after he took Chantix to help him quit smoking.

In June 2009, the FDA added a “black box” warning about the potential risk of problems with Chantix, indicating that some users have experienced changes in behavior, depression and suicidal thoughts. Pfizer has also been required to conduct clinical trials providing more data on how often neuropsychiatric symptoms and suicide with Chantix occur and what conditions cause them.

In federal court proceedings, Pfizer has attempted to argue that the recent Chantix questions about violent and suicidal behavior have largely been created by over-hype in the media.

A growing number of Chantix lawsuits have been filed in courts throughout the United States on behalf of individuals who have died or suffered serious injuries as a result of a suicide or unusual behavior allegedly caused by Chantix.

In October 2009, the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation consolidated the federal Chantix litigation in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama. According to a pretrial scheduling order issued earlier this year, the first Chantix trial is unlikely to reach a jury until at least 2012.