FDA probes Chantix suicide, behavior concerns


By JANET ST. JAMES
The Food and Drug Administration announced an official safety review of the popular stop-smoking drug Chantix, which is the same drug many said may have contributed to a Dallas musician's violent outburst preceding his death.
Even before the violent rampage that led to the end of the Carter Albrecht's life, friends said he had been behaving strangely and placed the blame on the combination of alcohol and Pfizer-made Chantix.
Albrecht started to take Chantix a week before his death in an attempt to stop smoking.
Alcohol and Chantix have yet to be clinically studied together.
"Some people probably don't need to be taking it," said Ryann Rathbone, Albrecht's girlfriend.
After a News 8 report on Albrecht, countless of emails poured in from viewers and bloggers wrote about similar reports of depression and suicide related to Chantix.
A preliminary assessment of Chantix by the Food and Drug Administration stated that "many of the cases reflect new-onset of depressed mood, suicidal ideation and changes in emotion within days to weeks" of starting the Chantix treatment. Federal officials have launched a safety probe.
"Every safety review concerns me," said Mark Millard, a pulmonologist at Baylor University Medical Center.
Millard says he is concerned for another reason as well since he said the drug has helped many of his patients kick their smoking habit.
Despite the investigation, he said people shouldn't quit taking the drug unless they are having problems.
"If you feel different, if you feel your mood is depressed, if you feel despairing, if something is not right in the world, call your healthcare provider tomorrow morning and say, 'Do I need to keep taking this medication?'" he said.