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Over the last decade, your family doctor would've likely prescribed a drug like Chantix. One that has very recently been recalled due to increased risk of cance

Over the last decade, your family doctor would've likely prescribed a drug like Chantix. One that has very recently been recalled due to increased risk of cancer: https://khn.org/morning-breakout/pfizer-recalls-chantix-anti-smoking-drug-over-cancer-causing-chemical/ https://khn.org/morning-breakout/pfizer-recalls-chantix-anti... Unfortunately, your doctor's recommendation is not necessarily the ideal option for your overall health. As a former smoker, I applaud any and all strategies that could be effective without pharmaceutical intervention, at least as a first option for addicted individuals.

542354234235 5y ago
>Unfortunately, your doctor's recommendation is not necessarily the ideal option for your overall health. What method would you suggest that would be more effective than evidence-based medicine? I seem to recall that there is somewhat of a cancer risk for continuing to smoke. So if Chantix is effective at getting you to quit, you would still be at a much lower cancer risk overall. It is also worth noting that the drugs were recalled because of an impurity in batches that could cause a cancer risk, not a risk from the drug itself. This just seems like terrible logic to me. Don’t use evidence based approaches to help you quit something that is definitely increasing your risk of cancer by a lot, because at some point down the road it could maybe be found that the approach you took had a much smaller risk of causing cancer. This is just fear of active risk vs passive risk. Accepting a much larger risk of maintaining the status quo over a lower risk of actively seeking out and taking a drug.
- projektfu 5y ago
  The news was also mischaracterized as it's not the active ingredient that is associated with cancer risk, it's a contaminant/by product of the production process, so it's more of a product safety recall than a drug safety recall. As far as I know, this was a voluntary risk-reduction recall by the manufacturer and not an FDA recommended or ordered recall based on safety data.

542354234235 5y ago

>Unfortunately, your doctor's recommendation is not necessarily the ideal option for your overall health. What method would you suggest that would be more effective than evidence-based medicine? I seem to recall that there is somewhat of a cancer risk for continuing to smoke. So if Chantix is effective at getting you to quit, you would still be at a much lower cancer risk overall. It is also worth noting that the drugs were recalled because of an impurity in batches that could cause a cancer risk, not a risk from the drug itself. This just seems like terrible logic to me. Don’t use evidence based approaches to help you quit something that is definitely increasing your risk of cancer by a lot, because at some point down the road it could maybe be found that the approach you took had a much smaller risk of causing cancer. This is just fear of active risk vs passive risk. Accepting a much larger risk of maintaining the status quo over a lower risk of actively seeking out and taking a drug.

projektfu 5y ago
The news was also mischaracterized as it's not the active ingredient that is associated with cancer risk, it's a contaminant/by product of the production process, so it's more of a product safety recall than a drug safety recall. As far as I know, this was a voluntary risk-reduction recall by the manufacturer and not an FDA recommended or ordered recall based on safety data.