A report released last week by the The Institute for Safe Medication Practices (and covered yesterday on PharmExec.com), listed Pfizer’s smoking cessation drug Chantix as the number one most reported drug for adverse reactions in the first quarter of 2008.

The report states that FDA received 1,001 reports of serious side effects for varenicline (the generic form of Chantix). That’s significantly more adverse events than heparin, which rang up only 779 reactions (and allegedly killed a few people).

Chantix gartered a ton of headlines during that same period. In January 2008, Pfizer pumped up the warnings on the drug to include suicidal thinking and depression. It is possible that the undo attention could have increased the rate of adverse reaction reporting. ISMP said that it made a point to weed out all the minor reports or possible fakes.

Initial calls to Pfizer weren’t returned, but the company’s PR team gave a ring this morning to let me know that a statement was on its way. Here’s what Pfizer spokesperson Sally Beatty had to say: (more…)

In today’s Wall Street Journal, Mark Herrmann, an attorney with Jones Day, co-proprietor of the Drug and Device Law blog, as well as an occasional contributor to Pharm Exec, has a lively review of Alison Bass’ Side Effects, a new book that tells the story of the campaign against Paxil.

His bottom line is a familiar one for journalists covering the pharmaceutical industry. He writes:

“Side Effects” belongs to a genre of investigative journalism that involves talking to plaintiffs, their lawyers and their expert witnesses, taking their stories as gospel and denigrating the opposing view because corporate money (apparently less pure than money from the plaintiffs’ side) supposedly has a corrupting effect.  (more…)