More Evidence That Varenicline Raises Cardiovascular Risk

Varenicline is an effective aid in smoking cessation, but some randomized trials and meta-analyses have suggested that the drug poses substantial cardiovascular (CV) and neuropsychiatric risks. Canadian researchers used healthcare databases to identify all patients in Ontario who began using varenicline between 2011 and 2014 and who had emergency department visits or hospitalizations arising from specified adverse CV or neuropsychiatric events within 1 year before or 1 year after starting varenicline. They then compared the incidence of adverse CV or neuropsychiatric events during the 12-week period after starting varenicline (risk interval) with incidence during the remainder of the 2-year span before and after starting the drug (control i…