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Anti-smoking drugs declared safe

Ng Yuk-hang and Reuters, SCMP

Two anti-smoking drugs ordered by US health authorities to display mental health warnings on their packaging were safe to use, the Hong Kong Department of Health said yesterday.

The US Food and Drug Administration has warned that Pfizer’s Chantix and GlaxoSmithKline’s Zyban had sparked 5,000 reports of depression, hostility and other behavioural changes.

But a spokesman for Hong Kong’s health department said there were already warning labels on the drugs and there had been no complaints.

He said there was no need to recall the drugs as they had been properly registered and could only be obtained with a prescription.

A leading pharmacist said people who were trying to quit smoking would often suffer from depression. Nicotine promoted the secretion in the brain of dopamine, a neurotransmitter that generated feelings of happiness and relaxation, Society of Hospital Pharmacists president Ewan So Yiu-wah said. “When people quit smoking, it is natural that they feel depressed because less dopamine is secreted,” he said.

Mr So said the packaging of drugs sold in the city already carried a warning based on European standards. But he called for translated instruction slips. “Many people do not read English and would not know what the side effects are,” he said.

Taking the drugs was safe as users needed to see a doctor every two weeks and their health would be closely monitored, he added.

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