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AMERICAN LEGACY FOUNDATION® COMMENTS ON LABEL UPDATE REGARDING PFIZER’S SMOKING CESSATION THERAPY, CHANTIX

1/18/2008

A STATEMENT BY DR. CHERYL HEALTON, PRESIDENT AND CEO

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The announcement this morning that Pfizer is proactively and voluntarily giving more prominence to its consumer warning messages specific to their popular smoking medication, Chantix, is welcome news. As it is important to get as much information as possible into the hands of consumers, physicians and other health care providers, Pfizer is working to ensure that physicians and consumers have the information they need to decide whether this medication is right for them.

There are 45 million Americans who smoke and each year, seventy percent report that they want to quit. Each smoker works to do so differently; the average former smoker makes 8 to 11 attempts to quit. The American Legacy Foundation has long recommended that smokers who want to increase their odds of success in quitting should make a plan, set a date, and talk with their physician to seek counsel on pharmacotherapies that will work best for them. They should also consider behavioral counseling in person or via telephonic counseling from their state quitlines (1-800-QUIT-NOW) and surround themselves with social support.

Ending nicotine addiction is difficult and smoking cessation medications such as prescription pills and nicotine replacement therapies -- like the patch, lozenge, gum or inhaler – taken individually or in combination can prove remarkably helpful in minimizing cravings for nicotine while smokers work to quit. Nicotine withdrawal may be especially challenging for those who suffer from psychiatric illness. In addition, smokers may also be dealing with alcohol addiction, depression, anxiety, insomnia or suicidal thoughts. This is why health care provider/patient dialogue is so vital in ensuring that smokers personalize their quit plans and seek advice from trained professionals about the best way for them to quit.

No matter how smokers choose to quit, it is ultimately one of the single most important lifestyle changes they can make to improve and extend their lives. Tobacco-related death is the leading cause of preventable death in the U.S., smokers therefore need to be armed with all the available information to make the best, most informed choices about the smoking cessation medications available to them.

The American Legacy Foundation^® is dedicated to building a world where young people reject tobacco and anyone can quit. Located in Washington, D.C., the foundation develops programs that address the health effects of tobacco use, especially among vulnerable populations disproportionately affected by the toll of tobacco, through grants, technical assistance and training, partnerships, youth activism, and counter-marketing and grassroots marketing campaigns. The foundation’s programs include truth^®, a national youth smoking prevention campaign that has been cited as contributing to significant declines in youth smoking; EX^®, an innovative public health program designed to speak to smokers in their own language and change the way they approach quitting; research initiatives exploring the causes, consequences and approaches to reducing tobacco use; and a nationally-renowned program of outreach to priority populations. The American Legacy Foundation was created as a result of the November 1998 Master Settlement Agreement (MSA) reached between attorneys general from 46 states, five U.S. territories and the tobacco industry. Visit www.americanlegacy.org.

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Contact: Julia Cartwright, 202-454-5596, jcartwright@americanlegacy.org