True: Pfizer has voluntarily recalled all lots of its anti-smoking drug over carcinogen presence.

By: Ilma Hasan
September 24 2021

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Pfizer's recall of Chantix over a "potential increased cancer risk in humans" is wrongly being used to question the safety of the company's vaccine. Sharing the screenshot of a Daily Mail article on the recalling of Chantix, an anti-smoking drug manufactured by Pfizer, a Facebook user questions the pharmaceutical company's research into the medicine. While the post does not mention the COVID-19 vaccine, the news is being used to question the quality of research conducted before medicines receive approval for use. Although Chantix presented no immediate risk to patients taking the medication, Pfizer voluntarily recalled all lots due to high levels of cancer-causing agents called nitrosamines in the pills. The Food and Drug Administration clarified that patients taking the drug "should continue taking their current medicine until their pharmacist provides a replacement or their doctor prescribes a different treatment." It further stated that health benefits of stopping smoking outweigh the cancer risk from the nitrosamine impurity in Chantix. Pfizer initially paused the distribution of the drug in June and has already recalled a number of lots of the medicine so far. At the time, the company said the pause in distribution was conducted out of an abundance of caution, pending further testing. Pfizer then expanded the recall to add lots of the anti-smoking drug in August. Additionally, these are precautionary measures as currently there are no reports of the drug causing cancer in anyone, Inverse reported. Pfizer's recall is being used to push an anti-vaccine agenda with false narratives that no drugs manufactured by the company should be trusted including its COVID-19 vaccine. The vaccines have undergone thorough testing and the possible side effects of the vaccine, of which 43.5 percent of the world has now had at least one dose, are well known. The Chantix incident has nothing to do with Pfizer's coronavirus vaccine.