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Health ministry issues warning on smoking cessation drug

DUBAI — The Ministry of Health has issued a health warning on a popularly used smoking-cessation drug Champix.

Following the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warning, the UAE Health Ministry has asked the manufacturer to modify the warnings on the packaging and include the side effects and complications as a black box label.

Champix, the brand name for the prescription drug varenicline tartrate, has been found to cause heart-related side effects on some patients. Patients with cardiovascular disease were found to be more at risk though those without any underlying factors were also considered to be at risk.

Health practitioners have also been asked to check the patient history before prescribing the drug and keep a regular follow up.

A ministry official said there was a possibility that the drug would be available upon prescription only. “We use nicotine patches at all Quit Smoking clinics, but there is a possibility that the drug will not be available as an over-the-counter medicine anymore,” said Dr Wedad Al Maidoor, head of the National Anti-Tobacco Committee at the ministry.

The drug is also available at the Dubai Health Authority’s Quit Smoking clinics. “We have been asked to check with patients for heart problems before prescribing the medicine,” said Dr Hanan Obaid, Head of Community Health Services Programme Section at the DHA. “We also have to do a regular follow up.”

The medicine is given free of cost to UAE nationals while expatriates are offered smoking cessation packages. They, however, have to pay for the medicine.

]asmaalizain@khaleejtimes.com