GSK offers pilots a Chantix alternative

Exploiting a competitor's weakness is a time-honored tradition in business. So it's probably no surprise that GlaxoSmithKline is injecting itself into the Chantix upheaval. You'll recall that last week the FAA told pilots and air traffic controllers they can't use the stop-smoking drug because of new links to accidents, dizziness, and other side effects. (Chantix's potential to cause psychiatric effects is already on the books.) Well, just before the holiday weekend, GSK offered its own stop-smoking product, Commit nicotine lozenges, to pilots and controllers for free. "It seemed to make sense to us to step up and offer this," Bill Slivka, VP for smoking control at GSK's consumer health unit, told the WSJ Health Blog.

- see the item at the Health Blog

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