Smoking often starts as a casual habit with an occasional cigarette now and then. What seems initially to be an occasional harmless habit becomes an addiction over a period of time, unable to quit even if the smoker wants to quit the habit. The addict's body becomes Nicotine dependent and when one reaches this stage it is very difficult to quit this habit. Smoking habit not only affects the person who is smoking, but it also affects those who live around them in the form of passive smoking.



There are people who sincerely fight to quit this habit on daily basis. Chantix, which is a product of Pfizer, came with a great promise of a revolutionary medicine in 2006 giving hope to millions of people who fight to quit the habit. It was initially considered to be one of the highly effective medicines that helped people to quit smoking. Chantix was available only through prescription and no other smoking cessation drugs should be taken when the patients are prescribed with Chantix. This drug was prescribed along with behavior modification therapy.

Unfortunately, the drug that brought in lot of hope turned out to produce disastrous side effects that are even lethal. Based on the post-marketing reports, FDA identified various negative side effects of Chantix in November 2007. Many researches were kicked off to probe further into the side effects of Chantix and in February 2008 FDA sent an alert that Chantix had definitive side effects that are associated with both physical and neuropsychiatric symptoms such as headache, abnormal dreams, insomnia, nausea, vomiting, constipation, liver failure, diabetes, seizures, etc. The negative neuropsychiatric side effects included agitation, mood swings, sever depression and inclination towards suicide including suicidal thoughts, suicide attempts and suicide.

Among all the side effects, the most serious side effect is the suicidal ideation. This can be found in various degrees in patients. The suicidal thought will erupt without any warning and if the patient was already suffering from depression that has been caused by Chantix then it can lead to suicidal attempts.

Since its introduction in February 2006, over 3 million people were prescribed with Chantix. A number of people whose lives have been disrupted by the use of this drug have started filing Chantix lawsuits against the company claiming compensation for putting their lives to such great risks and for inadequate research before the product was launched. There were number of Chantix lawsuits filed across the nation for the adverse side effects and the mental trauma the medicine has caused. A Chantix lawsuit was filed either by the victims themselves or by the family members of the victims who lost their loved ones to Chantix side effects. All those who have been prescribed with Chantix or all those who have been taking Chantix are advised to approach their physicians immediately whether or not they exhibit any symptoms.

If you have been a victim of Chantix medication, you must get help from a Chantix lawsuit attorney to review your case with all the available medical history and evidences to ensure that you are really a victim of Chantix side effects. It is important to find an attorney who is experienced in dealing with medical lawsuits against big pharmaceutical companies.