New Chantix Suit Filed in Alabama MDL

A new complaint has been added to the growing number of lawsuits that have been consolidated in federal court in the Northern District of Alabama. This consolidation was created in order to allow similar cases to be more streamlined and allegations against Pfizer to be combined. The plaintiff in this new lawsuit, Theresa Hilburn, joined Chantix litigation with the help of her attorney, who filed a short form complaint on her behalf that adopted portions of the Master Consolidated Complaint.

Chantix suicide attempt cited

Chantix was approved in May of 2006 by the Food and Drug Administration as a smoking cessation aid and has since become very popular, helping thousands of patients discontinue their use of cigarettes and reduce their dependence on nicotine. However, it has been linked to a number of serious physical and psychological side effects, including suicidal thoughts and depression. Plaintiff Hilburn claims that she experienced suicidal thoughts after she began taking the drug in July of 2007, and her lawsuit states that while she was on the medication, she attempted suicide by overdose. Although Hilburn survived her suicide attempt, many patients have not been so lucky.

The Food and Drug Administration has received numerous reports of suicides and suicide attempts experienced by patients using the smoking cessation medication, and launched its own investigation into side effects resulting from Chantix use. They released a warning by early 2008 which stated that “it appears increasingly likely that there may be an association between Chantix and serious neuropsychiatric symptoms.” Just a year later, the FDA chose to issue a black box warning for the drug, which is the most severe warning that it can administer.

Chantix lawsuits consolidated

Many federal lawsuits dealing with Chantix-related side effects have been consolidated in the multidistrict litigation case currently taking place in Alabama. More than 2,500 claims are currently pending in this court. Plaintiffs in these cases are seeking compensation for the injuries they have suffered or for the deaths of loved ones.

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