Smoking Cessation Drug Suspected in 30 Suicides in Canada

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Since 2007 in Canada, the smoking cessation drug Champix (Chantix) “is suspected of playing a major role in the deaths of 44 patients — 30 of them by suicide,” reported the Vancouver Sun. “The Pfizer drug has also been linked to more than 1,300 incidents of suicide attempts or thoughts, depression, and aggression/anger across the country in the past seven years.”

The numbers came from a database of voluntary reports, mostly from physicians, pharmacists and drug companies, that is kept by the Canadian federal government. “But Health Canada admits on its website that side-effects are under-reported, and experts say the database could represent as little as one per cent of the patients who suffer complications,” stated the Sun.

“You are looking at a lot of deaths, suicides and attempted suicides, and suicidal ideation in a population that you would have no reason to think would be otherwise at high risk of suicide,” University of British Columbia drug expert Barbara Mintzes told the Sun.

Quit-smoking drug suspected in 30 suicides in Canada (Vancouver Sun, January 10, 2015)

10 COMMENTS

  1. What’s particularly insidious about false marketing mind altering psychotropics as “safe smoking cessation meds,” is the patient isn’t even told they are being put on a drug that crosses the blood brain barrier, a drug that could alter their moods or thinking. The patient isn’t anticipating mind altering effects. And the PCPs don’t bother to taper people off these antidepressants, which I think most psychiatrists are aware is necessary. And until around 2004, the doctors didn’t even know (and were actually denying and misdiagnosing) some of the adverse effects of these non-“safe” drugs.

    http://pb.rcpsych.org/content/29/6/219.full

    The incompetent PCPs were railroading clients suffering from the antidepressant withdrawal symptoms off to the psychiatrists, claiming the adverse effects of the “safe smoking cessation meds” were “schizophrenia” and “bipolar” and “depression” and “schizo-affective disorder” and “adjustment disorder.” At least that’s how I was initially defamed with fraudulent “life long, incurable, genetic mental illnesses.”

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      • Thanks, Fiachra, I appreciate it. But, open and shut? Only after picking up all my medical records and researching medicine for nine years, since I wasn’t able to find an ethical doctor. During which time other upper middle class white men stole all my money (I think I’m now party to nine class action lawsuits due to corporate greed, and none of those, of course, relate to the malpractice) .

        But it is interesting makings for a book about the crimes of today’s American upper class and upper middle class against the middle class. I started writing recently. And you’re so right, it’s only the tip of the iceberg. “Anatomy…” points out the heartbreaking fact that over a million innocent, little American children were turned into “bipolar” patients via the same iatrogenic pathway as I was. And this, according to the DSM-IV-TR “bible” itself, represents malpractice on a massive scale. Where are the shysters? Oh, they’re upper middle class white men too.

        Adopting belief in the psychiatric industry’s fraudulent theories because, historically and still today, a primary function of the psychiatric industry is covering up easily recognized iatrogenesis for the mainstream medical community and child abuse for the religions, has destroyed the credibility of the entire medical community, IMO. My pastor described this function of the psychiatric community as “the dirty little secret of the two original educated professions.” Thank God, not all upper middle class white men are unethical, torturing thieves. But isn’t it bizarre that the pastors have known for decades that the psych drugs cause the psych illnesses, but the psychiatrists and doctors still claim ignorance of this reality?

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        • Seeing this headline I have immediately thought about you – you’ve been warning about this drug on MIA a lot and you’re doing a great service to all those who may be in danger by sharing your story.
          I wish you good luck with the lawsuits though I think they are unlikely to achieve much. There has to be a systemic change otherwise it’s all smoke and mirrors.

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          • Thanks, B, I don’t personally have any law suits. The FBI is suing Kuchipudi because he did what he did to me, to many other people, and patient deaths resulted. I’ve contacted the lawyer working on the case, and offered to testify against Kuchipudi, but I have not heard back from that lawyer. I dealt with Kuchipudi at a different hospital than the one he was arrested at, and it appears the FBI wants to focus just on the crimes he was committing at Sacred Heart, not on his similar crimes at other hospitals.

            But I agree, systematic change needs to occur, in many industries in this country. This “too big to fail” and “too big to jail” corporatocracy mentality just leads to “… absolute power corrupts absolutely.” It’s nuts.

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    • Our society is filled with scams, in many industries, Fiachra, not just the medical industry. I was researching the banking industries’ fraud this morning and love the last sentence of this article.

      http://www.salon.com/2014/09/07/finally_wall_street_gets_put_on_trial_we_can_still_hold_the_0_1_percent_responsible_for_tanking_the_economy/

      “What we’ve got instead is a society dominated by thieves.”

      It seems to me that the self professed “greatest generation” neglected to teach their children well, and the baby boomers / “me generation” never matured enough to understand that it’s not actually all just about them, being fiscally responsible is one’s actual responsibility to the younger generations, and corporate thievery and trying to murder kind organ donors for profit are inappropriate behavior.

      It’s definitely some of our corporation protected upper and upper middle class “professionals” that have lost their minds and moral compasses. It’s a war of the corporations against the middle class people. Is that a fair fight? Our government’s job is to protect the people, but instead they were bought out by the big, bad corporations. We live in a sick and lawless society right now. And we were forewarned:

      “If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around them will deprive the people of all property until their children wake up homeless on the continent their Fathers conquered…I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies… The issuing power should be taken from the banks and restored to the people, to whom it properly belongs.” Thomas Jefferson

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  3. it’s not just this drug that is problematical. I sat last night watching television and commercial after commercial for different drugs were aired. They were for all different kinds of things. The thing that most struck me is that every damned one of them mentioned that you needed to stop taking them and tell your doctor if you become suicidal! What is going on these days when on of the possible effects of so many drugs is wanting to kill yourself in strange and bizarre ways? It’s not just the psychiatric drugs with this warning. It’s come to the point that I will not take any drugs other than those for my blood pressure. Oops, I’d better go and look up what I’m taking for that since they probably have the possibility of causing suicidal feelings too! This is crazy!

    We’ve become a society of pill eaters; we want “medications” for everything, especially anything that’s painful or sad or full of grief. If things aren’t totally fun we must take a pill for it. Eat a pill for this, pop a pill for that. Where is it going to take us and what will be the end result?

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