MONDAY, April 28, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- The mental health risks associated with Chantix will be reviewed at a public meeting scheduled for October, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration says. The meeting will feature a panel of experts who will discuss the psychiatric and behavioral side effects of Chantix and how best to manage them, The New York Times reported.
In 2009, the FDA ordered drug maker Pfizer to add a black box label to Chantix after it was linked to hostility, aggression, depression, and suicidal thoughts. There were dozens of reports of suicide and suicidal behavior among people taking the drug. Pfizer was also told to conduct further studies to assess the extent of these side effects. The company recently provided the FDA with new data about the anti-smoking drug.
"Pfizer has proposed an update to the Chantix labeling based on these new data, which, we believe, would better reflect the product's safety profile as it pertains to neuropsychiatric symptoms," company spokeswoman Victoria Davis said in a statement, The Times reported.
The findings submitted to the FDA include data from a number of Pfizer studies, as well as findings from two studies conducted by the U.S. Department of Defense and the Department of Veterans Affairs. The government studies were released in 2011 and found that Chantix users did not have a higher rate of psychiatric hospitalizations than those who used nicotine patches or other treatments to help them stop smoking. However, the study authors said only mental health problems that resulted in hospitalization were included, which means many such problems likely went unreported, The Times said.
Health Highlights: April 28, 2014
