New Scientist has a story on anti-smoking drug Chantix, that has been linked to suicidal and violent behaviour. This is a drug that has been on the market in the US for 18 months now, and this didn’t show up in drug trials? No wonder people are skeptical of science and so-called “Big Pharma” when stories like this make it out.

Chantix is taken by smokers who have quit, and it has been claimed in the drug’s defence that the ensuing nicotine withdrawal symptoms may exacerbate any underlying psychiatric illness. But the FDA also notes that the side effects have been reported by Chantix users who have not stopped smoking and by users with no record of psychiatric illness.

The official Chantix web site lists the the most common side effects, which they say “include nausea (30%), trouble sleeping, changes in dreaming, constipation, gas, and/or vomiting. If you have side effects that bother you or don’t go away, tell your doctor.” Not even one mention of psychotic rage; must be okay. then.

I remember quitting smoking, and while I felt down, edgy and a bit distracted, it was never so bad that I had violent or suicidal impulses. How about a migraine pill that, rather than easing migraine symptoms causes blood to shoot from your ears like a fountain? Maybe a nice salve that is supposed to ease that rash causing everything you say to taste green? Maybe an impotency pill that causes spontaneous strokes in 60% of those that take it? Okay, that last one might just be written off as acceptable odds to many, but you see what I mean.

If you’re taking a pill for Restless Leg Syndrome, and it may cause potentially fatal respiratory depression, hypotension, and profound sedation or potentially result in coma, stroke, heart attack, kidney or liver failure, dry mouth, nausea, and headache? It’s time to consider that twitching legs aren’t all that bad.

Quit smoking like I did; stop. It’s hard, and you really need to focus on the goal, but it’s really possible.