New Study Links Chantix to Violence, Aggression

Horsham, PAThere is mounting evidence that the smoking cessation drug Chantix is linked to unprovoked acts of violence and aggression.

According to a recent study published in the Annals of Pharmacotherapy, Chantix is potentially so dangerous that those in the police force, military and other work where guns are carried should be excluded from taking the drug, reports WebMD.

Thomas J. Moore, a senior scientist at the Institute for Safe Medication Practices, coauthored the study with Dr. Joseph Glenmullen of Harvard Medical School and another researcher.

"My colleagues and I have been concerned about the safety profile of [Chantix] since our first report [warning of adverse events] in 2008," Moore told WebMD.

The researchers examined 78 adverse event reports involving Chantix users. Some of these events included a 21-year-old woman who threatened her mother with a shotgun, a 42-year-old man who punched a stranger in a bowling alley and a 24-year-old woman who began beating her boyfriend then attempted to kill herself.

Moore said that the aggressive symptoms typically began shortly after patients started taking Chantix and generally subsided after they stopped using the drug.