March 6, 2014--Chantix
When you watch a lot of cable news (guilty!), considering the demographics of viewers, it is no surprise that you are bombarded with drug commercials. They may even be targeting me because half of them are for Cialis and Viagra.
Last Sunday morning, checking out Up on MSNBC so I could continue to follow the endlessly unfolding Chris Christie saga, there was an ad for Chantix, medication that purports to help many break the smoking habit. I don't smoke, thankfully never did, but for some reason I paid close attention to it, including my usual favorite part where they list the most frequent side effects.
In Chantix's case, most commonly (5% of the time), these include nausea, constipation, flatulence, and vomiting. Less common possible side effects include depression, hostility, panic, mania, and suicidal thoughts.
Then, of course, there is the familiar warning that when taking Chantix one should avoid using heavy equipment. I thought, don't all the guys who use heavy equipment smoke? Oh well.
Most interesting in the fine print where the side effects are listed were the results of tests done to determine Chantix's effectiveness. Forty-four percent, they said, after nine weeks were helped to stop smoking. Sounds good. But, fascinating, 18% stopped in double-blind tests when given sugar-pill placebos.
Why then, I thought, would a physician initially give anyone Chantix rather than starting patients off on the sugar pills since they are nearly half as effective as the prescription drugs that, in a few cases, lead to thoughts of suicide.
Prescribe the placebos, tell patients to come back in nine weeks and then, if they haven't stopped smoking, switch to Chantix. Why put nearly a fifth of patients on pills they could do without and get the same results? And all the while they'd be able to drive backhoes.
As a general rule, in non-emergency situations, wouldn't it make sense to start people off with sugar pills if the data show that in at least 10% of the cases they'd get the same results.
But at hundreds or even thousands of dollars a month for the prescription drugs, it's pretty easy to figure out why this isn't routine practice.
Last Sunday morning, checking out Up on MSNBC so I could continue to follow the endlessly unfolding Chris Christie saga, there was an ad for Chantix, medication that purports to help many break the smoking habit. I don't smoke, thankfully never did, but for some reason I paid close attention to it, including my usual favorite part where they list the most frequent side effects.
In Chantix's case, most commonly (5% of the time), these include nausea, constipation, flatulence, and vomiting. Less common possible side effects include depression, hostility, panic, mania, and suicidal thoughts.
Then, of course, there is the familiar warning that when taking Chantix one should avoid using heavy equipment. I thought, don't all the guys who use heavy equipment smoke? Oh well.
Most interesting in the fine print where the side effects are listed were the results of tests done to determine Chantix's effectiveness. Forty-four percent, they said, after nine weeks were helped to stop smoking. Sounds good. But, fascinating, 18% stopped in double-blind tests when given sugar-pill placebos.
Why then, I thought, would a physician initially give anyone Chantix rather than starting patients off on the sugar pills since they are nearly half as effective as the prescription drugs that, in a few cases, lead to thoughts of suicide.
Prescribe the placebos, tell patients to come back in nine weeks and then, if they haven't stopped smoking, switch to Chantix. Why put nearly a fifth of patients on pills they could do without and get the same results? And all the while they'd be able to drive backhoes.
As a general rule, in non-emergency situations, wouldn't it make sense to start people off with sugar pills if the data show that in at least 10% of the cases they'd get the same results.
But at hundreds or even thousands of dollars a month for the prescription drugs, it's pretty easy to figure out why this isn't routine practice.
Labels: Cable News, Chantix, Cigarettes, Cost of Drugs, Double-Blind Tests, Drug Ads, Medications, MSNBC, Placebos, Prescription Drugs, Side Effects, Smoking, Stop Smoking
posted by Steven Zwerling at
5:19 AM
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