Chantix Side Effects Continue to Cause Sales to Fall
According to Pfizer’s third-quarter earnings statement, Chantix side effects have clearly had an impact on doctors’ and patients’ use of the drug. While Chantix was once thought to be the next great blockbuster medication for Pfizer, sales have plummeted on concerns that it increases the risk of suicide, suicide attempts, unusual behavior, and possibly even diabetes.
During the third quarter of this year, Pfizer reported sales of $96 million in the United States, which is a 50% drop from the same quarter in 2007, before information about the risk of Chantix suicides was added to the drug’s warning label.
Chantix is a relatively new drug, which received FDA approval in 2006 as a prescription treatment to help people quit smoking. Towards the end of last year, less than two years after it was first introduced by Pfizer, concerns began to emerge about the side effects of Chantix, when a number of adverse events were reported about users committing suicide, having suicidal thoughts and unusual aggressive behavior.
Pfizer first added this information to the warning label in November 2007, and the FDA mandated a “black box” warning in May 2008 about the suicide risk. Concerns have also emerged about the possibility of new-onset diabetes associated with Chantix.
According to an independent report from the non-profit Institute for Same Medication Practices, within two years of its approval, Chantix was associated with more adverse event reports than any other medication, including drugs like fentanyl, oxycodone and other drugs used for serious illnesses.
CHANTIX SIDE EFFECT LAWSUITS
The Chantix lawyers at Saiontz & Kirk, P.A. represent individuals throughout the United States who are pursuing lawsuits as a result of serious and fatal injuries associated with the use of Chantix. While many drugs carry dangerous side effects, Pfizer failed to disclose the risks of using Chantix, and continue to provide inadequate warning.
If information about the dangers of Chantix had been adequately disclosed, most individuals who are looking to quit smoking to improve their health and prolong their life, would have elected to take other drugs. This is clearly evidenced by the sharp fall in sales, and the continued reluctance of doctors and patients to choose this drug.
If you, a friend or family member have committed suicide, suffered a severe injury from a suicide attempt or been diagnosed with diabetes, request a free Chantix lawsuit evaluation.
22 Comments • Add Your Comments
Sharon says:
I took Chantix for about 2 months. I noticed that, among other side effects, I was breaking out in hives. I stopped taking the drug but the hives have continued. I have seen many doctors, none of which pay any attention to the fact that my problem started when I took the drug. Has anyone else had this problem? I am desperate to find a cure for these hives and welts and also swelling of my face.
Posted on November 2, 2008 at 12:52 pm
Edan says:
I do not recomind any one to take Chantix my mother took her life while on this medication. She committed suicied. We the family was not aware of possible suicide atemps. But she had not acted any different than before she started taking it. i dont see how they can continue to sell a medication that you might cause you to kill your self. in our case it is to late to watch for suicidel actions because when some one decides to kill them selves you dont have time to do anything
Posted on November 4, 2008 at 6:49 pm
Lawanna says:
I started taking Chantix in 2006 around August. I tried it for about 6 months. Later the next year I was diagnosed with diabetes. I am 44 years old and have never had a problem with diabetes before taking Chantix. I have also had a major mood change while taking the drug. I became very depressed and had thoughts of suicide.
Posted on December 24, 2008 at 6:52 pm
Barbara says:
I have told everyone not to take Chantix. I have Heart failure and Dysarthria. I went from no health problems to having to file for disability. That is another story all together. That drug is a killer and hurts people.
I am so sorry Edan about your Mother and Lawanna
About your diabetes, and Sharon about you hives.
For some, it leaves us with a life sentence
Posted on January 14, 2009 at 6:29 pm
Elisabeth says:
I had taken Chantix twice a day, as prescribed, and had feelings of nausea, both times, each day….after a month, I suddenly began to vomit. I vomited every 2 1/2 to three hours for 1 day went to the Dr., who gave me a shot. three hours later I was vomiting again. after 2 more days of practically continuous vomiting, I landed in the emergency room for 10 hours….obviously, I lived through this but I will warn everyone I know to not take Chantix. I feel sure that this was the reason. I’m not a person who vomits easily. Haven’t vomited since.
Posted on February 23, 2009 at 4:28 pm
Carl says:
I hae been a smoker for many years,not to longago Ihad a sinus infection and scheduled a doctors apt., During my visit my doctor suggested that I along with my wife should stop smoking. I agreed and asked for suggestions,immediatly Chantix, came out of her mouth. I told her that we had heard bad things about Chantix,she assured us everything would work out,My wife and I started taking Chantix, within two weeks my wife who is bipolar ,had a serious breakdown,her other doctor atributes it to Chantix.I have not been out of the house a hand full of times,severe depression ,not caring for much.my doctor has now prescribed sertraline tab. I still smoke!
Posted on February 25, 2009 at 4:55 pm
Marsha says:
I started off just going to the drs for a simple flu. The dr suggested I try to quit smoking so I asked what would help with that process. I started taking chantix the day after. First the nightmares began, along with nausea, vomiting. I began to feel rapid heartbeat, and blacked out 2 times. I called dr and had to wear a heart monitor for 24 hours, but nothing showed up. I missed weeks of work at a time from severe depression. I absolutely didn’t care to do anything. I have been working at my place of employment for 6 yrs, and have never missed as much work as I have since taking chantix. I was put on a depression med but as of the last 2 weeks have weened myself off them and can actually say I am starting to feel like a person again. Please anyone wishing to qiut smoking, don’t take chantix, do it the old fashioned way like my husband did, willpower. By the way, I am still smoking.
Posted on April 5, 2009 at 1:32 pm
Lowell says:
I took chantics for 5 days ,My klonipin dosen’t work any more, Lost so much Interest In Life ….It says It blocks the nicotine receptor,so It dosen’t feel as good when you smoke ,,problem Is It blocks more pleasure receptors ,,They experimented with our brains ,and there still selling It ,,They crossed the line, Big Time The simple pleasures ,Gone The very special Pleasures almost diminsed to Non particapation. Stay Alive Don’t use this Its been 2 years I have not got back yet Be happy with the pleasures you have now ,The could dissapeer With Chantix,Please You could land In A instatution [ The Devil drug]
Posted on June 6, 2009 at 10:12 am
Tony says:
Sharon I have also had the same reaction. I am covered in hives and I quit using chantix back in Sept 09. I’m now on several medications that seem to control it but still doesnt stop the major breaks out from time to time. Chantix was the worst mistake in my life. Its embarassing to go to work, be around family, or public!
Posted on January 29, 2010 at 5:22 pm
Teresa says:
Sharon and Tony
I have been itching all over my legs and arms are covered in sores the dotctor said it was scabies but it was not it started about a month after I took chantix I have tried every thing to stop the itch but nothing helps if anybody knows how to stop the itch please let me hear from you.
Posted on March 21, 2010 at 1:47 pm
..... says:
Sharon/Tony/Theresa
I had the same experience. I was on Chantix for about two weeks and believed it has been the cause of my chronic hives.
Posted on March 31, 2010 at 6:19 pm
Connie says:
I had similar side effect of desperate itching and hives (needle-like) after I stopped Chantix. This sent me to Emerg Rm 2 separate days and was put on intravenous Benadryl, which did not help. Docs there could not see the welts on my skin, which I could see from where I was standing looking downward. They did see a lot or redness, though. Went to Dermatologist. I was prescribed Triamcinolone Acetonide Ointment & Xyzal (oral med), which helped a lot. However, this medication numbs the nerves on your skin, but one will get sensation back on the skin after one stops using it.
Posted on May 20, 2010 at 5:51 pm
Tim says:
I had taken Chantix for a period of time, and I was excited because I had no urge to to smoke. However, after a few months, I began having red splotches and acne type pimples, mainly on my face.
So I quit taking them for a while, and it took a long time, several months for my face to clear uo, eventhough it never did total clear p. I used acme cream to help clear it up but its’ success was not as good as I expected it would be.
Posted on July 15, 2010 at 9:51 pm
Kevin says:
I had been using Chantix for about 3 weeks. Went to bed on a Thursday night with what I though were heat blisters, woke up Fri. morning covered in hives. By Sat. I was covered from neck to knees. The itching is unbearable. Went to the ER & received 2 shots, sent home with a script for Prednisone, which is taking away the itch & slowly the hives are fading. Something needs to be done to have this drug taken off the market. I would rather be smoking than dealing with the hives & non-stopping itching. Sharon/Tony/Theresa/Connie, I feel for what your going through. Stay strong.
Posted on July 21, 2010 at 2:24 am
Kevin says:
footnote to my story, that Thurs. night I stopped the Chantix & have not needed a cigarette since
Posted on July 21, 2010 at 2:27 am
lisa says:
ok here it goes. this is the first blog i have done about this althought i have read countless others trying to find someone with my most troublesom problems. my work place decided to go tobacco free and announaced to quit date of 9/1/ 2009.they also provided assistance with info. and possible discounts on whichever aid u needed to help you stop. i had just turned 40 in sept.i had always been healthy and had not seen a doctor for 16 years, i figured i was getting older and i needed to stop smoking so i made an appointment to establish a primary care doctor 1/2009. she did a new patient exam with all the labs and gave me a clean bill of health. near the end of the appointment i told her that i needed to quite smoking and she readily wrote me a perscription for chantix. now the fun begins when i went to pick it up the pharmacsist told me about the dreams and i jokingly said i was already having vivid dreams so this should be interesting. so i began the chantix and right away i had headaches and naeusa constantly about half wat through the second week it was all i could do to get out of bed if i didnt have to be at work. i would make myself go to the couch just to get out off bed but would be right back in it within 30 mins.by the 4th week i was just a zombie o and by the way my dreams had stopped completelyfrom day one its like it shut my brain down! anyway after a friend said i looked dead and was acting like a zoombie i just quit i did not take another pill and i started to feel more alive. shortly after i started haveing lower back pain and lower abdominal pain i returned to the dr. and said i felt as though i might have a kidney infection. after a slight uti diagnosis and some antibotics i felt better but this would turn in to multiple visits, test, and antibiotics the last few times i did not test positive for infection but ended up in the ER when my friend found me luckly unconcous in the floor of my bedroom. turns out i had a kindey infection so bad that there was a pocket of pus on my right kidney. along with all the kidney fun came a much more painful experiance i now go into what i can only explain as random labor. i have had to children natural that means vaginal with no drugs. and now for some reason i get the pleasure of experiancing that pain repeadedly and randomly. all i can do is hold myself while lying in a fetal position and cry. so for i have been to 3 gyn speacilist with one doing explortory surgery and a gastro. dr. all blood work comes back fine and no one knows whats wrong with me. all of them just want to take out all my girl parts and hope for the best. sorry not good enough! alopng with all that as if its not enough i have chronic wide spead pain sometimes sharp but mostly achy feels like its in my bones its just brutal i hurt almost all the time. i dont know what to do i am so tired of being in pain. so now i have put on 25 pounds, i have no interest in doing anything and the problems just seem to keep coming my stomach desends i dont sleep well my hips are killing me as i type this. this is gonna cause me to lose my job if not more. i just dont know how people can live in consent pain. o and bythe way if you havent noticed i can no longer spell i have memory loss so bad i cant remeber anything. im not even sure if i coverd everything here but im not giong back and reading it yet again. so point is if theres anybody out there who has experianced this or know anything that can help me
Posted on April 11, 2011 at 6:27 am
Patrick says:
After 2 plus months of taking Chantix I was also bitten by the hives, rash and eye swelling syndrome. My doctor took me off of the medicine immediately and said I had to stop taking because it could lead to other problems. I was back into the doctor for other complications and I told him about the hives, he stated the Chantix was out of my system and told me to take Claritin 10 mg. This has help but I have to take it everyday and they still come back just not as bad. I have another appointment this Friday. If you have found anything out about this please let me know. Thanks
Posted on May 11, 2011 at 2:28 pm
Tessa says:
I was very reluctant to start taking Chantix because of the terrifying psychological side effects however being 35 and having to stop taking birth control due to smoking and a family history of cancer made not smoking a big priority to me. Initially I have felt great on Chantix with a generalized sense of well being. The dreams have been very vivid but not scary and I have had very mild nausea after first taking the pill. I have noticed minor bouts of tiredness and then bouts of being a bit wired. My desire to smoke has dramatically dropped and I’ve had zero cravings which has given me a confidence about not smoking that I’ve never had. Yesterday the dosage doubled to adding an additional evening pill and everything has changed now. Within one hour of taking the second dose my skin felt like it was crawling. I took to my bed by 8pm and was literally up til 4am with extreme itching. By this morning I am starting to present with hives. I am very disappointed to discontinue this drug because I truly was hopeful that I was going to breeze through quiting smoking craving free. Guess it is time to go to hypnosis and get to the root of why I am so dependent on this self torturing deadly addiction.
Posted on September 20, 2013 at 12:21 pm
Bonita says:
I too had to go to the ER for abdominal pain, vomiting, and diarrhea. When I would take my dose in the mornings I would immedletly feel nauseated. The ER doctor thought I had diverticulious or a small bowel obstruction. The CT-Scan was negative so they called this a virus but it continued for 2 weeks. I would not recommend this drug…
Posted on December 11, 2013 at 7:37 pm
Andrea says:
Hi, I’ve just started this medication on Monday in fact the day before my bday, and had no instant side effects however tonight I have this horrible itching all over my body. The itching feels like needles what should I do? How do I know if it’s related to the chantix, I don’t want to quit if it will help but after reading all over your comments I don’t want to have made a life changing mistake on my 31st birthday either. Help please if anyone can.
Thank you in advance, Andrea
Posted on December 8, 2016 at 6:36 am
Lora says:
Wish I read the articles from others before taking the Chantix. Took my first pill on Friday, my second on saturday. Saturday night I had itching bad around tops of my legs thought it was no seeums (I live in Florida) . Got flu or head cold type symptoms which I thought was from something going around my work. Then I took my third pill this morning and about an hour later noticed the itching on my arms, face, back, hips, upper legs, chest, tummy ,.hands and feet. The worst is my arms which are red and when I scratch it leaves long welts the length of the scratch. I’m at work suffering with this and I will not take the chantix any more. I will try to quit smoking or cut back on my own. I am 65 and never had issues like this before. The itching is enough to drive you crazy. I hope I will not have permanent itching from this. About ready to call off work and go to the hospital. No one had mentioned to me the risk of getting hives or anything else when I got the prescription, not the Doctor nor the pharmacy CVS. I hardly ever take medications and this is why they take food off your table and give you worse side effects than what you are trying to cure.Hope top quit smoking on my own, if not I’d rather puff than itch.This should be labled as one of those BAD drugs
Posted on November 19, 2017 at 2:36 pm
empera says:
I started Chantix in 2012 I believe. Immediately after, the hives and welts started. Head to toe. Feet to scalp. Went to the doctor it was so bad she even took pics! I describe it as thousands of needle pricks deep under your skin that no scratching can reach it. 7 year’s later it hasn’t gone away. I’ve been on countless steroid creams. Unfortunately the severe itching is all over my vaginal area. Went to the ob/gyn only for him to tell me I clean the area too much blah blah. It’s debilitating and torture. I haven’t slept a full night in 7 year’s. It’s embarrassing and uncomfortable. I live off Atarax now. I can’t sleep at night w/out it and even then, I wake from a dead sleep itching.
My life will never be the same. My family has watched the desperation to find out why it won’t go away. I’m tired.. I’d give year’s off my life just to know what a good nights rest feels like.
I will never recommend Chantix!! It ruined my life 🙁
Posted on October 8, 2019 at 6:12 pm