Champix: Updated safety information for the smoking-cessation drug (Canada)

Health Canada is informing Canadians that its review of Champix is now complete and the label has been updated with new information with respect to cardiovascular safety. Champix (the brand name for varenicline tartrate) is a prescription drug used to help patients quit smoking in combination with supportive counselling. Health Canada evaluated data from a quit-smoking clinical trial involving 700 smokers with cardiovascular disease (approximately 350 who received Champix and 350 who received a placebo or "sugar pills"). Cardiovascular disease is a broad term for any condition that affects the heart and/or blood vessels, including heart attack and stroke