Pfizer agreed to settle most Chantix quit-drug lawsuits for about $273 million

Pfizer has agreed to settle the majority of lawsuits alleging its smoking cessation drug, Chantix, caused suicide and injuries, according to a Thomson Reuters story quoting the company’s annual filing to the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The drug maker last year entered into agreements to settle about 80 per cent of the more than 2,700 lawsuits over Chantix at a cost of about $273 million.

Pfizer said also it had set aside $15 million to resolve all of the remaining claims in the US.

Pfizer introduced Chantix in the US in 2006 and, starting in 2008, consumers started to lodge lawsuits alleging that the company knew about psychological side effects related to the drug but failed to inform doctors and patients.

By 2009, the Food and Drug Administration required a so-called black-box label on the drug warning of the risk of suicidal thoughts, depression and other behavioral changes.