No-smoke pill Champix on sale despite death link

ANTI-SMOKING "wonder drug" Champix will hit shelves in Australia tomorrow, even after being linked to more than 62 deaths and thousands of cases of suicidal thoughts and depression in the US and Britain.

The revolutionary pill, which blocks nicotine receptors in the brain, has support from the Therapeutic Goods Administration and anti-smoking groups, even though side effects have appeared in thousands of patients over the past year.

The TGA has ordered manufacturer Pfizer Australia to comply with a range of measures including direct warnings on consumer information and sending letters to doctors warning of the risk of suicide and depression in patients, a spokeswoman said.

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The UK Government's medicine watchdog, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, had received 1335 reports of patents suffering serious side effects, including seven deaths -- one of which was a suicide -- by December 18.

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