OTTAWA, April 10 (UPI) -- More than 100 suspected adverse drug reactions were reported in the first year the smoking cessation drug Champix was used in Canada, health officials said.
Health Canada's Canadian Adverse Reaction Newsletter said nearly half of reported suspected drug reactions in people taking Champix involved psychiatric reactions -- including seven people who became suicidal while on the drug -- Canwest News Service reported.
Of the 107 reports of adverse drug reactions suspected of being associated with Champix, 46 involved psychiatric reactions including aggression, depression and suicidal thinking. Others involved amnesia, abnormal dreams, anxiety, insomnia and abnormal thinking.
In February, U.S. drug regulators issued a public alert about the possibility of serious psychiatric symptoms resulting from the drug. Canadian regulators are reviewing the issue, Canwest said.
Vratislav Hadrava, Pfizer's director of regulatory affairs and safety, said Champix has been prescribed to more than 220,000 patients in Canada.
