Smoking cessation pill Chantix just got a reprieve from the Food and Drug Administration: The Pfizer drug no longer needs to carry a black box warning label noting that users are at risk for serious side effects like suicidal thoughts and hostility.
Pfizer has been battling the dreadful publicity around Chantix’s potential neuropsychiatric side effects ever since the drug was approved about a decade ago. Sales, which were expected to place Chantix in blockbuster status, have plateaued in the years since approval — thanks, in part, to a spate of lawsuits that claimed the drug caused violent or suicidal behavior.
Two years ago, FDA rejected Pfizer’s appeal for a milder Chantix label.
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Stat plus. You have the nerve to give me part of an article for my globe subscription and send me to a pay wall!. This is worse than reporting on tweets, which is pathetic journalism. I’ll be cancelling my globe subscription Monday.