Studies Linking Smoking-Cessation Drug With Suicide Risk Spark Concerns
Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text.
Emerging evidence suggests the smoking-cessation drug varenicline is among a growing list of medications that might cause serious psychiatric adverse events.
A new analysis by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) adds to evidence that varenicline might be associated with an increased risk of suicidal thoughts and behavior, including among patients with no psychiatric history. The results, which were published in January, follow warnings from the agency that such a link is likely, as well as label changes noting a possible risk.
A Food and Drug Administration analysis of adverse event reports suggests that cessation drugs varenicline and bupropion are associated with an increased risk of suicidality.
The latest findings emphasize the importance of physicians monitoring patients taking varenicline for such adverse events. They also raise questions about how well new drugs are being screened for unwanted psychiatric effects. Continued reports of crashes and other serious adverse events among …
