Chantix Trial Leaves Veterans Feeling "Betrayed"

Jeff Rasansky

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Chantix is getting even more bad press lately. Earlier this month, I blogged about a man who went missing and the potential part Chantix may have played in the event. Now there are reports that the Veterans Administration never warned veterans who were using the drug in a clinical trial of its potential dangers.

James Elliott is a former US Army sniper who says he has been betrayed by the Veteran’s Administration. Elliott was among 140 combat veterans who combined post traumatic stress disorder therapy with the stop-smoking drug. However, the patients weren’t told about possible psychotic, even suicidal side-effects of the drug until three months after the FDA issued an alert.

James had already suffered from a violent mental breakdown by then.

According to WFAA, the VA had already been warned about the drug’s potential side-effects before the FDA warning.

The VA recently issued a statement that “neither the FDA nor the manufacturer has ever recalled Chantix” and that “the VA’s use of Chantix is consistent with guidelines for smoking cessation established by the US Surgeon General’s office.”

Now, the head of the Veteran’s Affairs Committee has called for government clinical trials that use Chantix to be suspended.