Chantix Not for Smokers with Mental Health Problems

Selma, ORJulie believes there were no Chantix clinical trials involving people with depression. If there were, it is likely that physicians wouldn't prescribe the smoking cessation drug to patients suffering from mental health issues.

"I am diagnosed with severe depression and the medications I am taking had me very stabilized prior to Chantix," says Julie (not her real name). "My family doctor suggested I quit smoking and I felt it was time. But when I started taking this drug I just went down the rabbit hole. I'm on disability for depression so I should never have been described this drug in the first place."

Julie took Chantix in 2008—a time when there weren't any warnings on the label about suicidal ideation and other serious adverse events. Now, more than two years later, Julie thinks she just missed the statute of limitations to file a Chantix lawsuit.

"I had a plan for suicide," Julie explains. "I wrote a living will stating that my animals were to be taken care of and that was going to be my last day on this planet. Luckily I called my psychiatrist so I didn't attempt suicide, but I came very close…

"As soon as I started taking Chantix I was sleeping 18 hours a day, and in just one month I lost eight pounds, which I didn't need to lose. After I quit Chantix my depression did not clear up. To this day I am up and down like a yo-yo, and my meds aren't helping like they used to. But I'm gun-shy about trying anything new. If my doctor suggests a new drug, I'm afraid of taking it.

"I can't blame my doctor for prescribing Chantix because she didn't know either. The label only said you would have vivid dreams. She didn't have a warning insert, neither did my pharmacist--otherwise they would have red-flagged it. Pfizer said the warning about 'extremely rare side effects' was sent out at the end of 2007. Pfizer sent me a copy of the insert because I wrote them a letter in June 2008 asking for compensation. They said my doctor should have known and they had warnings on the professional insert. I told the Pfizer representative that my doctor and pharmacist never had the warning.

"My psychiatrist looked up Chantix in the PDR—a newsletter he gets every month—and he didn't have it in February, of possible side effects. It was still under the extremely rare side effects.

"In other words, Pfizer was lying to me. Pfizer did not give the information to my doctor or my pharmacist. They knew which drugs I was on and they would never have given it to me had they known.

"I have irrational behavior: I had some savings and started gambling—all of it is gone. I used to be a cocaine addict but stopped 23 years ago; I never thought an addiction would appear again. I'm six grand in debt and don't even have enough money to buy firewood for this winter.

"I asked Pfizer for reimbursement of my medical costs. They wanted five years of my medical records and pharmacy records—they were trying to pin this on another drug. I asked for $150,000 for pain and suffering and they denied it. They gave me a refund on my Chantix and recently sent me a brochure: 'Pfizer prides itself on keeping immaculate records—we are very concerned about people's side effects.' Yet they sent me a brochure with a $30 coupon for Chantix!

"The way I look at it, I am worth $75,000 dead—that is my life insurance policy. So I should be worth double that alive. That will cover my medical costs and basic needs. I've been trying to contact the media so I can warn people who have depression not to take this drug—it stops the dopamine level, your feel-good center.

"There were no trials done on people with clinical depression."