Q. I live in the U.K. On Christmas Eve my boyfriend had been been using Champix for some months. He was drinking and went berserk for no reason, assaulted me and destroyed my apartment.
I fled and waited in an ambulance for the police to come. They found him unconscious from taking an overdose of paracetamol [acetaminophen]. He survived but I have ended the relationship and pressed charges.
As far as I know he has no past mental health problems or history of violence. Could Champix have contributed to his frightening behavior?
A. The stop-smoking drug varenicline is sold in the U.K. as Champix and in the U.S. by the name Chantix. It is impossible to determine whether this medication was responsible for your boyfriend’s behavior, but the FDA has received reports of “suicidal thoughts and aggressive and erratic behavior in patients who have taken Chantix.”
Your story is reminiscent of a tragic event that took place in Dallas, TX, last year. A musician named Carter Albrecht had been taking Chantix to quit smoking. One night he got drunk and assaulted his girlfriend.
She ran away from him and locked him out. When he wasn’t able to kick the door down, he went to a neighbor’s house and started banging on the door. The frightened neighbor fired a gun through the door. One shot hit Albrecht in the head and killed him. No one has determined whether Chantix played a role in this incident.
