Boston Area News

by Joe Shortsleeve
BOSTON (WBZ) ― Is it a miracle drug, or actually something far more dangerous? There have been reports of nightmares, hallucinations, and thoughts of suicide -- all from a popular prescription.

Some think the side effects of this drug make it too dangerous to be on the market.

Carter Albrecht was a musical genius -- not a violent bone in his body -- until he snapped.

"My future was stolen from me."

According to his girlfriend, Ryan Rathbone, it happened after a few drinks and taking his first one milligram tablet of the anti-smoking pill Chantix. "He was telling me the blood of the children that I had killed and that I had hurt him. He never yelled at me, he physically assaulted me at that point."

He hit her multiple times and then…"I had crawled up in a fetal position on the floor and he stopped and, and said baby, baby who did this to you? He had no idea."

Ryan says he was delusional -- living out parts of the book -- "Constantine's Sword."

Then minutes later, Albrecht was dead -- shot and killed -- breaking into a neighbor's house. Carter's father has his theory. "That was not Carter Albrecht," said Kenneth Albrecht. "That was some reaction - I feel to this smoking drug."

"If I had one wish, I wish I had never heard of Chantix."

Scott and Monica Mullins used Chantix to stop smoking. After taking the pill, Monica says she had terrible bouts of nausea and vomited all the time. Her husband Scott says he began to have bad dreams and horrible thoughts. They stopped taking Chantix. "As much as I hate to admit it, there have been times when I have thought about ending my life," said Scott.

An analysis of the Food and Drug Administration's database of adverse side effects shows thousands of similar and very serious reactions to Chantix. Pfizer's patient information insert for Chantix lists only five "common" side effects, but in a separate insert meant for doctors, some frightening adverse reactions appear listed in one millimeter size print: Suicidal thoughts, aggression and neurological and psychiatric disorders.

In Europe, the drug is known as "Champix." We found out that Commission on Human Medicines, which is similar to our FDA, has put Champix on its list of new drugs under surveillance, and has discussed a potential signal of "risk of suicidal thoughts and behaviors" associated with this pill.

But the UK committee also states there is no evidence to suggest the pill increases those risks. Pfizer states the drug is safe. "Our analysis to date does not suggest a causal association between Chantix and violence," said Dr. Ponni Subbiah of Pfizer.

This month's Public Citizen, a political watch dog group, put Chantix on its worst pill list. "We felt that with all the kinds of adverse effects had been seen in the trial, particularly the nausea, psychiatric ones, that it was best to wait seven years before using the drug," explains Dr. Peter Lurie.

According to Public Citizen, the reason is that half of all drug problems arise in the first seven years on the market.

Physiatrist Bryon Adinoff specializes in addiction. He has no problems prescribing the drug and points out Chantix, or other medicines taken with alcohol, like Carter Albrecht did, could lead to unpredictable results. "That's why drugs are so powerful. It's hitting a system that we have that naturally responds to rewards."

There's no warning to avoid alcohol while taking Chantix, and the pill remains popular.

Patients on Chantix were 44 percent of patients more likely to quit smoking at the end of 12 weeks.

There are three million people on Chantix in the U.S. Ryan used to be one of them… no more. Now she copes with her pain. Around her neck hangs Carter's ring that was on his finger the day he died. Etched into the ring in Italian is the word "remember." "I'm convinced Chantix played a big role," said Ryan. "I believe that this drug did. Nothing else makes sense."

Chantix went on the market in August of 2006. Pfizer tested it on roughly 5,000 people which is considered normal.

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