Pfizer Dodges Chantix Liability By Nixing Test
20 CommentsBy Ed Silverman // November 1st, 2007 // 8:53 am
Do you remember that high-profile shooting in Texas two months ago? A musician named Carter Albrecht was in a drunken rage and banged on the door of a homeowner, who feared an intruder, and shot and killed the young man. Although Albrecht was later found to have tested for a high level of alcohol, he’d also begun taking Pfizer’s Chantix, the smoking-cessation drug, a week earlier and complained of vivid dreams.
That stirred a national controversy over the extent to which the drug can cause hallucinations, which were noted as only a rare psychiatric disorder in the prescribing information. Pfizer officials have maintained there’s no evidence to suggest Chantix causes violent behavior. Nonetheless, the “Chantix dreams” were cited by Albrecht’s family and girlfriend as possibly contributing to his outburst.
But no one will ever know. The Dallas Medical Examiner, Jeff Barnard, wrote in his report that he sought to test the body for the drug, but was unable to do so. Why? “No test exists in our laboratory,” he said, according to a local TV station. He also stated that he was “unable to find any lab which does this testing beyond the manufacturer.” For its part, Pfizer declined to perform the test, and sent Barnard a sample and instructions for developing its own test. But that could take weeks or months, he claimed, and the sample expired after a few days.
“There really was no reason for us to do this in the first place, other than it was a high-profile case,” he tells The Dallas Morning News. “We gave it a shot and couldn’t get it done. We’d be developing a test at taxpayer expense that had nothing to with the finding on cause and manner of death. If this drug was thought to be the cause of death, we would pursue this further.”
And so, it would appear a moot point. But this offers a lesson - should a similar episode occur, it may be very difficult to verify whether Chantix played a role, unless labs are equipped to run tests, or Pfizer is willing to conduct those tests. And if Pfizer chooses not to do so, well, those “Chantix dreams” may remain a figment of someone’s imagination.
Reality
It sounds like the Chantix dreams are a real phenomenon, and it may be that the drug either interacts with alcohol or potentiates its effects.
However, let’s not overlook the fact that he had a BAC of 0.29! That’s some serious, serious drinking, and certainly enough for people who don’t normally get violent, etc., to start doing some pretty unusual things.
A sad story regardless.
Lisa Van S
Reality,
Check out this sad story http://www.press-citizen/apps/pbcs.dll/article?aid/20071031/news01/71031018/1079
Another Zoloft Murder Trial involving young people…
And it occured in Senator Grassley’s neck of the woods.
Derek Lowe
This doesn’t add up. You’d detect this by LC/MS, and the method used should be pretty easy to get going. All you need to start with is a gradient and solvent combination, and to know what ions to look for. LC/MS folks look for things they haven’t detected before all the time; the versatility of the technique is one of its biggest selling points. And the treatment of the samples, etc., should be the same as for any other drug or metabolite; there’s nothing so weird about the Chantix structure, as far as I recall.
And the sample “expired after a few days”? Not in the freezer, it didn’t, which is where such things are kept. In the drug industry, we keep blood and tissue samples for extended periods, stacked up in ordered ranks in the low-temp freezers, in case we need to go back to them. Any decent path lab should be doing the same. No, something’s odd about this story. . .
qetzal
Even if a test had been conducted, I fail to see that it would have shed any light on the situation.
At best, it would have confirmed what’s already suspected - that he took Chantix. That doesn’t tell us anything about the possible role of Chantix in his behavior.
A negative test wouldn’t really be informative either. First, you couldn’t rule out failure due to bad testing procedure or poor sample handling, especially since the test would have been a “one-off” conducted by a lab with no prior experience with that test. Second, you couldn’t exclude the possibility that Chantix has psychopharmacological effects that persist longer than the pharmacokinetic clearance.
As far as I can see, the blood test issue in this case is just a red herring.
close to carter
Carter would NEVER have hurt his girlfriend. He loved ryann more than anthing else. He was a big (understatement) drinker, but had never yelled or hurt her. The week before this event he sold an expensive guitar to buy her an “official” ring.
Blood alchohol level is a joke. he was not driving that night. she was. of course chantix played a part, i’ve taken chantix and had to stop due to horrible side effects.
chantix nees to come with a warning label. not just for the person taking it, but also for all of their friends and family.
also, the “castle doctrine”? in texas, it’s okay to shoot someone you dont like through a WELL-LIT glass pane door and get away with it scot free. he never tried to kick or break in. the Dallas Police are lazy and would never try to persue any case that would make them actually work.
Lisa Van S
Good Morning,.. Bob,
Chantix and Zoloft “BOTH” have psychiatric side effects,and “BOTH are made by Pfizer.
It’s becoming quite clear that you are suffering from some type of a Psychological problem,and suggest you seek help.
E
It is slightly ridicoulous to blame this on chantix. First someone else shot him, some maybe we should be putting some blame there, and his acohol level was high and by most account he was taking chantix with acohol which always a bad idea with medications. Additionaly, at the first sign of mental instability, someone should have contacted his doctor or 911.
fyi
In case E hasn’t been paying attention, MANY people have had similar hallucinations/psychotic reactions after taking Chantix and plenty of them had nothing to drink with it. It is just as ridiculous to claim that Chantix had NOTHING to do with Carter’s uncharacteristic behavior that night/morning. Those hallucinations might still have happened even if he had not had a drop of alcohol.
It is vitally important for other people using Chantix or thinking of using it that we know everything about it - how to test for it, ALL of it’s side effects, etc. - without Pfizer stonewalling in order to avoid being held liable or having their precious moneymaker ripped off the market.
Brian
I know Carter personally and he could get quite annoying when he was drunk. I tried to stay on his good side but you didn’t disagree with carter when he was drunk
John Smith
Qetzal is correct. A test isn’t necessary. It’s understood and established that Mr. Albrecht was using Chantix. This isn’t the part of the story of which there’s controversy. Nor is it likely, in the future, that this should be the controversial part (establishing that the victim was actively taking Chantix.)
The controversy is whether or not the interaction of Chantix with alcohol is responsible for the irrational and violent behavior. And, as I’ve written about elsewhere, this is such a murky area because alcohol, by itself, is sometimes responsible for irrational and violent behavior.
Thank you.
John Smith
Linda
I started taking chantix 6 days ago. One evening I was relaxing in our day room, having a cigarette. I wasnt even tired but very soon found myself waking up to pain. Here I was putting my cigarette out on my opposite arm! I can assure you, I do not drink and I am a very healthy as well as mentally stable person and have never had any episodes such as this one in my entire life! I have since had some very uneasy moments that seemed almost as if I was sleeping and awake at the same time. I know it is from the Chantix! It is too coincidental. I am only telling about this because too many people are blaming the alcohol in the terribly ordeal with that young man. No one knows the exact cause and it’s very probable that they will never know. But please see my point here, what this drug has done to me so far is causing me to question my mental stability while taking it. I have several other side effects as well and because of all of this I am quitting them. I just pray that the effects do not continue after I’m off of the chantix! I guess I will catch the next miracle drug that comes along to stop smoking…that is IF it is a bit safer.
Lisa Van S
Linda,
Please be careful!! Chantix is considered an antidepressant and can cause severe psychological side effects.If you need support I suggest that you log onto Paxil Progress, the folks there are great, when someone needs support….Good Luck.
Shannon
I have a few beers every night after work.
I stopped taking Chantix because of constant nausea, headaches, constipation and strange dreams. Within two weeks of stopping, my vision became very blurry. I had suicidal thoughts, extreme depression, feelings of aggression toward myself and others, weight gain, sensitive and bleeding gums, migraines, sleeplessness, anxiety attacks – the first one sent me to the emergency room thinking I was having a heart attack.
I am missing work because of feeling ill and doctor appointments. I feel sick all of the time now. I have trouble concentrating and staying focused. My legs are restless. I have mood swings and I am no longer interested in sex. I am now wearing glasses because I can no longer read without them.
I have quit smoking before and never went through anything like this in my life.
alice
Please be careful on Chantix!
My husband started using Chantix about 6 weeks ago, and has been smoke-free. However, he’s increasingly experiencing waking in the night not knowing if he’s dreaming or not. Frankly, it spooks me!
Tonight, he experienced an ‘episode’ that confirmed my fears, and I’m throwing the meds away! He fell asleep watching TV, and was awakened by a phone call from our 13-year old son. He knew before falling asleep that he had to pick our son up from a birthday party at 9:30pm. When he got on the phone, he just lost it! Started screaming and shouting at our son, yelling that he wasn’t being ‘respectful,’ and then threw the phone at me saying ‘here, you handle this.’ This tantrum lasted awhile, and at one point I just told him to calm down & I’ll drive my son home. He continued to rant and rave about how everyone’s screaming at him for no reason, and then slammed the door and drove away in the car. I was worried the minute he ran out the door… would his temper lead to a car accident? Would my son be safe alone in the car with his father who was so angry?
What’s weird… my husband NEVER yelled at our kids or me like that.
I think the FDA has to take these side effects seriously, before future tragedies occur. I seriously felt like our family could have been victims tonight. Thank God they got home safely!
pg
Alice
‘Tonight, he experienced an ‘episode’ that confirmed my fears, and I’m throwing the meds away!’
Before throwing them away it may be a good idea to look around at withdrawal problems on antidepressants. If he is having problems on them now, it could worsen by coming off cold turkey. Tapering off gently could be safer.
pg
Alice: There’s a forum about Chantix problems with some of the entries discussing ways of tapering off, and problems they had when they went cold turkey.
Click HERE to go to the forum.
Chantix seems to have the same problems as antidepressants, and abrupt withdrawal is not a good idea on them.
Brian
Alice
Chantix is not an antidepressant. However, people with depression often self medicate with nicotine. When they quit smoking or nicotine’s efects are blocked , the depression can recur. Time to report these symptoms to a doctor..
pg
Tapering off Champix at the site in the link in my last comment:
“…I had a horrible time when I quit cold turkey, and my doctor but me on a very long wean…
1 week 1/2 mg 2x daily
1 week 1/2 mg only daily for a week
1 week 1/4 mg only for a week
1 week 1/4 every other day for a week
Then off Chantix…”
Alice: there are various people who have had similar experiences on Chantix and on withdrawal (which sound very much like antidepressant effects).
Although the FDA have given a Chantix warning, drug makers (and their supporters) do like to downplay the risks.
It may be better to be safe than sorry and get him to taper off slowly? Some doctors (as you can see from the forum) are unaware of the need to taper, but some are now getting aware of drug withdrawals and recognising problems, and have put their patients back on Chantix to taper off once obvious withdrawal effects are being experienced.
Unfortunately, not ALL doctors recognise it, and thats where the disasters happen I guess.
pg
Chantix induced potassium level changes & other physiological problems reported in the link given (HERE AGAIN).
What looks like some good advice generally by someone who posted there today:
“Please report your side effects to the FDA. Here is the link.
http://www.fda.gov/medwatch/feedback.htm
For some reason Pfizer will not recommend to wean off their drug chantix. I took it with few side effects at first. When I stopped taking chantix, it almost killed me. Low potassium - medical term hypokalemia which has a symptom of pschyosis. The ER doctor started giving me more drugs that sent my heart into overdrive that he shouldn’t have given me with the other drugs the doctor prescribed. Then that almost killed me when all I needed was to increase my potassium. So be careful, the doctors are just guessing at this point and do not always do what is best for you while they are covering their butts from malpractice. Sure you can take the pill chantix and if that gives you problems sleeping, you can take another pill to counter the side effects of the first pill. Then when you get a racing heartbeat you can take another pill to address that side effect. When you can’t go to the bathroom, you can take more pills to help with that side effect. In the meantime you are miserable and spending all the money you saved from smoking if chantix helped you quit taking more and more pills that have side effects of their own. Before long you will be a walking drug store with more pills that make you ill. there goes your health, your money and possibly your life if one of these pills causes a medical or mental health issue. The choice is yours. I choose to not take pills and HATE chantix for messing up my life and health the way it has. Do some research and you will see the real number one cause of death is medicine/drugs. What is the difference … well they are not talking about illegal drugs but legal ones.
If you read this, it is a warning to be careful taking meds. The doctors will not warn you of side effects and the drug manufacturers will still not warn you to wean off chantix. Why? Is it because chantix is addictive and far more deadly then what you took it to help fix? Quitting chantix cold turkey is hell; and with all the medical people looking for alternative answers for the true side effects we the users of these drugs suffer.
So if you took chantix or and other drug and noticed side effects please report them to help others and to prove it is the drug that caused it and not happenstance. Thanks and I hope no one has problems with quitting smoking. I feel bad for those that took this drug and got blind sided like me. I knew the risks associated with smoking but not the risk using chantix to quit smoking. Sure it worked to quit smoking but at what price? I know Pfizer has a fist full of my money and the doctors and hospitals a bit more. When will this all end … oh yeah I get it now … when they have all my money and I am dead due to their practice of hidding the truth. Sounds like what big tobacco did for so many years and got away with until someone blew the whistle. Nice huh?”
There are other reports of several people experiencing serious swelling of the ankles etc which, like potassium level drops, are very unlikely to be related to ‘previous depression’ or ‘cessation of smoking’!
Stay safe Alice.
Brian
Chantix binds to same acetylcholine channel that nicotine binds to in the brain. This is not an reuptake blocker so levels of neurotransmitters are not elevated or reduced. Chantix partially blocks the effect of nicotine. If you need nicotine to treat underlying depression or psychosis, you may not feel well on chantix. Perhaps this will be similar to how you felt years ago before you started smoking. There is an FDA approved protocol for how to take chantix and for how long. If you are experiencing issues see your doctor for further advice. As noted it does not work for everyone..