Chantix Litigation Progressing Rapidly With Discovery, Depositions

A conference scheduled for this week to review the status of the federal Chantix litigation has been post-poned until January after lawyers informed the Court that discovery and depositions are proceeding smoothly. 

Hundreds of Chantix lawsuits filed in federal district courts throughout the United States are consolidated as part of a mutidistrict litigation, or MDL, which is centralized before U.S. District Judge Inge Johnson in the Northern District of Alabama.

All of the complaints involve similar allegations that side effects of Chantix, a popular prescription medication sold by Pfizer to help people stop smoking, may increase the risk of serious injury or death due to suicidal thoughts and other unusual, aggressive behavior that has been reported to occur in some users after taking the medication.

A handful of cases in the litigation, known as Chantix bellwether lawsuits, are being prepared for early trial dates in the MDL. Such trials are designed to help the parties gauge the relative strengths and weaknesses of their cases and determine how juries are likely to respond to evidence and testimony that will be presented throughout many Chantix cases in the litigation.

A status conference with the Court and lawyers representing Chantix plaintiffs and Pfizer was scheduled for December 16. However, the court has granted a request to cancel that conference, rescheduling it for January 20, 2012.

According to a joint motion filed earlier this month, the parties said that they continue to make good progress in discovery. Plaintiffs’ depositions for common Pfizer company witnesses are nearing completion and the parties have taken dozens of depositions in the 28 cases being prepared for early trial dates. The parties indicated that they do not have any matters to raise with the Court and that the status conference scheduled for this month is not necessary.

As the litigation moves forward, Chantix lawyers are continuing to review and file cases on behalf of individuals who suffered serious or fatal injuries that may have been caused by the psychological effects of the drug. More than a two dozen new Chantix complaints have been filed against Pfizer this month in the Northern District of Alabama, and the number of lawsuits included in the Chantix litigation is expected to continue to grow.

Chantix (varenicline) was approved in the United States by the FDA in 2006 as a prescription medication to help people quit smoking. The drug works by reducing the positive feelings that come from cigarettes, blocking the receptors in the brain commonly stimulated by nicotine. However, the impact of the drug on the brain has resulted in a number of reports from users who experienced sudden, unusually aggressive behavior, thoughts of self-harm and suicide.

In June 2009, the FDA added a “black box” warning to the medication about the potential risk of changes in behavior, depression and suicidal thoughts, which is the strongest warning that can be placed on a prescription medication in the United States.

Most of the Chantix injury lawsuits currently filed allege that Pfizer failed to adequately research their medication or warn about the risk of these problems earlier.

This year, the FDA also issued a drug safety communication about the potential risk of heart problems from Chantix, warning that the smoking cessation drug might increase the risk of certain cardiovascular events, including the risk of heart attack, among individuals who had cardiovascular disease. As a result, Pfizer also faces a growing number of potential Chantix heart attack lawsuits.