Chantix increases heart disease risk, says study: What should users do?
(CBS) Chantix, the most popular smoking cessation drug on the market, might increase a user's risk for heart disease.
CBS News' Dr. Jon LaPook reported the seven million-plus Americans taking Chantix face a 72 percent increased risk for heart disease, according to a new study.
VIDEO: Study: Chantix increases heart disease risk
"It's causing the problem that we need to prevent among smokers," study co-author Dr. Sonal Singh, professor of medicine at Johns Hopkins University, told CBS News. "We need to prevent cardiac disease among smokers, not increase it."
For the study - published in the July 4th issue of the Canadian Medical Association Journal - researchers looked at 14 studies involving more than 8,000 smokers, more than half of which were taking Chantix. They found 52 smokers taking Chantix had a serious cardiovascular event - such as a heart attack - compared to only 27 smokers who took a placebo.
"We have known for many years that Chantix is one of the most harmful prescription drugs on the U.S. market," co-author Dr. Curt Furberg, professor of public health at Wake Forest University said in a statement reported by the New York Times. "It causes loss of consciousness, visual disturbances, suicides, violence, depression and worsening of diabetes. To this list we now can add serious cardiovascular events."
VIDEO: Anti-smoking drug linked to health risks
So what's next for Chantix?
"I don't see how the FDA can leave Chantix on the market," Dr. Furberg told the Times.
Last month the FDA issued a safety notice that the drug may increase heart attack and chest pain risk, but the study that warning was based on only covered 700 people.
Stop-smoking pill Chantix may cause heart attack, FDA warns
But drug-maker Pfizer disagrees with Singh and his team's findings, according to its vice-president of medical affairs Dr. Gail Cawkwell. "To date we have not seen evidence of important risks to heart health from Chantix," she told CBS News. "The analysis contains several limitations; most notably that it is based on a small number of events, which raises concerns about the reliability of the authors' conclusions," the company added in a written statement.
So what should people currently taking Chantix do?
It comes down to a risk-benefit question with each patient, according to Dr. LaPook. He says the treatment has been shown to work better than cold turkey and nicotine replacement therapy, like a patch or gum.
Other doctors, like Dr. Tina Kaufman, smoking cessation coordinator at Oregon Health and Science University seem to agree.
"We're talking about a small risk compared to the huge benefits of quitting," Kaufman told WebMD. "It's far more dangerous for them to continue smoking."
