Stopping smoking and the danger of Champix (varenicline) and alcohol - an update

It is just over two years since I wrote my initial post following my own terrifying experience with Champix (a.k.a. Chantix or Varenicline).

Since then I have received several messages from distressed individuals who have had similar, or worse experiences.

Invariably the person concerned is confused and frightened; they have acted out of character, often hurting the people they love most, having behaved in violent or criminal ways, yet have no recollection of the events and now find themselves facing criminal charges and the breakdown of relationships.

The outpouring of hatred towards the actor Nick Williams in the popular press at the time he was cleared of assaulting his girlfriend whilst under the influence of Champix and alcohol also reveals another difficulty. People simply are not believed.

Naturally, Pfizer have a vested interest in their drug, which must be worth billions to them, and I have had to delete comments that were blatantly marketing the drug from this site.

Of course Pfizer are working hard to gather ‘evidence’ to counter claims that Champix presents a risk. I am sceptical about any research funded by a company who have so much money at stake. See my earlier post on evidence based medicine here.

Yet the situation in the US is different. In July 2009, the Food and Drug Administration issued this notice:

‘FDA notified healthcare professionals and patients that it has required the manufacturers of the smoking cessation aids varenicline (Chantix) and bupropion (Zyban and generics) to add new Boxed Warnings and develop patient Medication Guides highlighting the risk of serious neuropsychiatric symptoms in patients using these products. These symptoms include changes in behavior, hostility, agitation, depressed mood, suicidal thoughts and behavior, and attempted suicide. The added warnings are based on the continued review of postmarketing adverse event reports for varenicline and bupropion received by the FDA. These reports included those with a temporal relationship between the use of varenicline or bupropion and suicidal events and the occurrence of suicidal ideation and suicidal behavior in patients with no history of psychiatric disease.


Healthcare professionals should advise patients to stop taking varenicline or bupropion and contact a healthcare provider immediately if they experience agitation, depressed mood, and any changes in behavior that are not typical of nicotine withdrawal, or if they experience suicidal thoughts or behavior’.

It is encouraging that growing numbers of Chantix lawsuits have been filed in the United States on behalf of individuals who have suffered injuries from the neuropsychiatric side effects of Chantix and for family members of individuals who have committed suicide on Chantix.

In October 2009, the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation consolidated all federal Chantix lawsuits 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.

When people ask me for advice, it is hard for me to know where to direct them, and I usually suggest they ask their lawyer to do some digging themselves. Clearly this is not enough, and perhaps we need a concerted effort in the UK to support people affected.


Of note to people in the UK, at last we have some evidence to support people. A recent (2010) study published in The Annals of Pharmacotherapy highlighed the link between Chantix and violent or aggressive behaviour. Researchers found several common characteristics among cases where Chantix users engaged in unprovoked acts of violence, often with no prior indication of similar behavior. Researchers found that violent and aggressive behavior ended for 93% of the subjects when they stopped taking Chantix.