Pfizer has recalled its popular anti-smoking drug Chantix after it was found to contain high levels of cancer-causing agents called nitrosamines.
According to a notice posted on the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) website Thursday, the drug maker is ‘voluntarily recalling all lots of Chantix 0.5mg and 1mg tablets to the patient level due to the presence of a nitrosamine, N-nitroso-varenicline (NDMA), at or above the FDA interim acceptable intake limit’.
Then, in an update posted on Friday, the FDA advised ‘patients taking recalled varenicline to continue taking their current medicine until their pharmacist provides a replacement or their doctor prescribes a different treatment’.
‘The health benefits of stopping smoking outweigh the cancer risk from the nitrosamine impurity in varenicline,’ it added.
Shannon Thaler & Brian Stieglitz – Daily Mail – 2021-09-17.
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