The Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) will review the safety of the popular anti-smoking drug Champix (varenicline), after research showed it increased the risk of cardiovascular, events including heart attacks, by 72 per cent.
Researchers involved in the meta-analysis of 14 trials including 8,216 participants, said Champix was estimated to harm 28 patients per year, assuming a baseline risk of serious adverse cardiovascular events of 5.57 per cent annually among smokers with stable cardiovascular disease.
“Clinicians should carefully balance the risk of serious cardiovascular events and serious neuropsychiatric adverse events associated with varenicline use against the known benefits of the drug on smoking cessation,” the authors said.
The findings follow a TGA warning issued last year to doctors that hundreds of people...
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