By Kim Do-yeun
The anti-smoking drug Chantix, known as "Champix" outside of the U.S., has been reported to increase the risk of suicide. Chantix is one of the most popular drugs used by smokers and is sold by U.S.-based pharmaceutical company Pfizer, Inc.
Dr. Curt D. Furberg, professor of public health studies at Wake Forest University School of Medicine in Winston-Salem, N.C., recently led a study that concluded that Chantix-users are more likely to contemplate suicide than nicotine patch-users.
The study analyzed 3,249 cases of anti-smoking treatment side-effects from 1998 to 2010, finding that 90 percent of the observed cases of depression and suicidal behavior were linked to Chantix.
Pfizer's instructions for the use of Chantix include a warning for side-effects such as depression and suicidal thoughts. However, Furberg's findings are alarming further given that only three percent of these adverse effects are linked with nicotine patches and seven percent with Zyban, another anti-smoking drug, compared to Chantix's 90 percent.
Dr. Furberg warned that the dangers of Chantix far outweigh the benefits, and advised the drug should only be used as a last resort.
It is also known to be related to disorders of consciousness and car accidents as a result of the former.
Chantix is different from Zyban or other nicotine-replacement treatments in that it blocks neuron receptors that sustain the smoker's addiction to nicotine, rather than supplying small doses of nicotine to gradually help the smoker quit.
The drug has been sold in the U.S. and Europe since 2006 and has been reportedly linked with 80 deaths in Britain, including 39 suicides since then.
In Korea, Chantix has been available since March 2007.