Quit smoking, drop dead
Anti-tobacco med linked to suicide and violence
Smokers have been dropping like flies lately, and it’s not because of the supposed risks of their habit.
It’s because of the very thing that’s supposed to save them: quitting.
A series of lawsuits claim more than a thousand people who took the popular anti-smoking drug Chantix tried to kill themselves — and lawyers say more than 100 succeeded in this ultimate quit.
It’s like a death penalty for smokers.
Normally, I might be inclined to write this off as a sad and desperate moneygrab. After all, we sue each other over just about everything — and no one ever takes responsibility for anything anymore.
But I don’t think this is just another frivolous lawsuit — because the risk of suicide is mentioned in the list of possible Chantix side effects.
Heck, it’s even in the commercials!
Want to see something sad and funny at the same time? Watch this Chantix ad — it features a full minute of side effects.
Suicide is mentioned in there… along with changes in behavior, strange dreams, life-threatening skin conditions, depression, agitation, and hostility.
So much hostility, in fact, that a new report on the top ten drugs linked to violent behavior puts Chantix at Numero Uno. Researchers wrote in PloS One that this med is 18 times more likely to be linked to violence than other meds.
Number two on the list, by comparison, was Prozac — “only” 10.9 times more likely to be linked to violence than other meds. Prozac was one of five antidepressants on the list, along with two ADHD drugs, a benzodiazepine, and a malaria med.
But let’s get back to smokers here — because who knows, maybe all that drug-induced violence and suicide is part of the master plan.
If the smokers don’t kill themselves, they’ll kill each other. Heck, that could be why the FDA gave this thing fast-track approval and rushed it to market before all the research was complete.
One less smoker is one less smoker — and who cares if it’s one less person, right?
Feb. 1, 2011