FDA updates label on Pfizer's Chantix to warn of interaction with alcohol

The US Food and Drug Administration has updated the label on Chantix (varenicline), marketed by US pharma major Pfizer (NYSE: PFE), to warn that the prescription smoking cessation medication can change the way people react to alcohol.

Some patients on Chantix have experienced increased intoxicating effects of alcohol, sometimes including aggressive behavior and amnesia, and in some rare cases, seizures. The FDA has approved changes to the label to warn of these risks.

It recommends that healthcare professionals should weight the potential risk of seizures against the potential benefits before prescribing the drug in patients with a history of seizures or other factors that would lower the seizure threshold.