Dr. Sonal Singh's Article Creates Media Stir

GIM’s Dr. Sonal Singh, lead author of an article published July 4^th in the CMAJ: Canadian Medical Association Journal, is finding his research has caused a stir in media outlets both here and abroad. The article, entitled “Risk of serious adverse cardiovascular events associated with varenicline: a systematic review and meta-analysis” reports the findings of a meta-analysis of 14 randomized clinical trials that lead the authors of the study to warn of a significant increase in serious cardiovascular events in people who took varenicline , marketed by Pfizer as Chantix, to help them quit smoking. Dr. Singh has been interviewed decrying a smoking cessation medication that can add to one of the chief risks of smoking in the first place.

Since its publication yesterday, the findings have been the subject of reports and discussions of risks in news sources on television (CBS Evening News,ABC World News, CNN), in print (New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Baltimore Sun) and online (Bloomberg News, Time “Heathland”, Forbes“ Cardiobrief”, HealthDay, MedPage Today, WebMD). The study has also been reported by BBC News and Reuters news agency.