Zyban safety fears resurface in UK

Concerns over a possible link between the deaths of 36 people and use ofGlaxoSmithKline's smoking cessation product Zyban (bupropion), which is also sold as an antidepressant under the trade name Wellbutrin, have resurfaced following the inquest of a a British Airways stewardess who died two weeks after she began taking the drug to help her quit smoking. She had been taking Zyban alongside an antimalarial (chloroquine) and a hypnotic agent, according to UK press reports. Initial suggestions of the possible link came to light earlier this year (Marketletter February 26).

Media reports in the UK carried broad coverage of the inquest, at which a spokesman for GSK maintained that there was no evidence linking the product to the deaths. This view was echoed by Alasdair Breckenridge, chairman of the Committee on Safety of Medicines in the UK, who noted that "where information is available, the majority of patients who died had underlying conditions that provide an alternative explanation. The CSM considers that the reports received are in line with the known safety profile of Zyban."

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