Carter Albrecht’s family suing Pfizer over stop-smoking drug
DALLAS — A federal lawsuit has been filed in Dallas on behalf of local musician Carter Albrecht against Pfizer, the maker of the stop-smoking drug Chantix.
Albrecht was shot and killed September 3, 2007 while banging on his neighbor’s door. Albrecht had been drinking.
Albrecht’s girlfriend, Ryann Rathbone, said he had become increasingly erratic after he started taking Chantix to quit smoking. She said vivid, often frightening dreams were an immediate side effect.
After using the prescription medication for a week, Rathbone said Albrecht began hallucinating, lashing out at her physically and verbally.
A News 8 investigation revealed thousands of similar reports of potentially dangerous psychiatric side effects. Pfizer later added a black box label, warning of serious neuropsychiatric side effects.
The lawsuit was filed by Ken and Judy Albrecht in the U.S. District court for the Northern District of Texas Dallas Division. It alleges that Pfizer “intentionally, recklessly, and/or negligently, advertised, promoted, marketed, sold, and/or distributed Chantix as a safe prescription medication when, in fact Defendant had reason to know, and/or did know, that Chantix was not safe for its intended purposes, and that Chantix caused serious injury and death.”
Carter Albrecht was a favorite in the Dallas music scene. He played for the local rock band Sorta and was also a member of Edie Brickell & the New Bohemians.
