Chantix: "Wonder Drug" or "Trip in Wonderland"

Last Monday morning at about four o’clock in the morning keyboardist, Carter Albrecht, was fatally shot and killed by his girlfriend’s neighbor after apparently trying to kick in his door. Albrecht had gotten into a confrontation with his girlfriend in which he struck her in the face several times and hit her in the back after she had fallen down. She somehow locked him out of the house at which point he proceeded to break down the neighbor’s door leading to the life ending gunshot wound.

Friends of Albrecht claim that this kind of action was completely uncharacteristic of Albrecht, and think that a stop smoking aid he was taking could have been to blame. Band mate, Danny Balis, posted a Myspace bulletin accusing the prescription drug Chantix as being reason for the crazed actions of the deceased. Albrecht and his girlfriend had apparently been taking the drug for a week and Monday was supposed to their quit day, but something went terribly wrong that morning.

Chantix has been reported to be rather successful for many as a stop smoking aid, but others have made claims that the drug made them act psychotic. The dugs warning label carries a plethora of side effects including “psychotic disorder” and “suicidal ideation.”

It turns out that there have been many horror stories associated with Chantix, from suicide to homicide. People frequently claim to have very insane dreams and Albrecht and his girlfriend even joked about their “chantix dreams.”

Several have posted on online message boards claiming strange thoughts of suicide and others have made attempts with no prior history of suicidal thoughts.

“My husband who has never had ANY mental health problems, tried to take his own life after being on Chantix for 13 days. He has no recollection of the day it happened.”

“My brother in law committed suicide Aug 19. He had taken Chantix and went off it in the spring, then we found out he had started retaking it 7 days before his suicide.”

While I can’t say that these accounts are true or that Chantix had anything to do with Albrecht’s death, I do think it is a very odd coincidence to see others with such strange events happening to them to. I hope that this doesn’t all get thrown by the wayside and that there is closer look taken at Chantix and its side effects.

For more information on this subject matter, please refer to the section on Drugs, Medical Devices, and Implants.