Champix Strikes Again?

From the BBC.

A man suspected of killing his wife and two daughters may have been taking anti-smoking medication with possible anger side effects, an inquest heard.

Andrew Case, 33, was found dead along with wife Vicki, 31, and their two girls Nereya, one, and Phoebe, two, at their home in Fordingbridge, Hampshire.

The inquest heard Mr Case had been prescribed 28 anti-smoking Champix tablets before the deaths last year.

It was told they could have possible depression and anger side effects.

Mr Case was dispensed a further 56 tablets by a chemist on 23 July last year, the day the family had returned from a week-long holiday to Weymouth, Dorset.

The inquest heard the original prescription packet was found empty in the house and only 28 of the extra tablets were found.

Sadly, this kind of story isn't much of a surprise where Champix (Chantix in the USA) is concerned.

The smoking cessation drugs Chantix and Zyban must now carry a boxed warning — the strongest type possible — about the risk of serious mental health problems, including depression, behavior changes and suicidal thoughts, the Food and Drug Administration announced Wednesday.

For Chantix, the FDA has received 98 reports of suicides; for Zyban and bupropion, the drug's generic name, 14. There also were 188 reports of attempted suicides by Chantix users, 17 by smokers trying to quit with bupropion. Nicotine-replacement products haven't generated similar reports, Rosebraugh said. (from 2009)

Yet it's still doled out like candy by our tobacco-terrified NHS. In fact, ex-Policy Exchange idiot Henry Featherstone, in his heroically incompetent report Cough Up, last year advocated Champix (clinical name Varenicline) being given out in even more willy-nilly fashion!

Varenicline is the most cost-effective treatment option in the NHS Stop Smoking Service. Studies consistently demonstrate it to be superior to any other therapy, but it is only used in 20% of cases. Varenicline should be offered as first line drug treatment for all patients wishing to quit smoking

The hypocrisy and, yes, evil of these pharma-backed anti-smoking freaks never ceases to beggar belief. While on the one hand furrowing their brows in righteous concern about harmless e-cigs, they seem simultaneously able to completely ignore mounting evidence of the deeply harmful - and sometimes dangerously violent - effects from using Champix ... a drug they endorse wholeheartedly.

It would appear that the precautionary principle only applies when they feel like it, and never when it threatens pharmaceutical interests.

Sorry to bore you, but I must reiterate. It was never about health.

UPDATE: Tobacco control advocate Michael Siegel explains why Champix should be banned immediately.