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	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

The randomized trial "Bupropion for Smoking Cessation" is in my opinion a flawed study.¹ Bupropion hydrochloride, an antidepressant, functions as an anticraving agent. When one craves cigarettes, the craving does not occur while smoking, but when cigarettes are absent. Nicotine 7-mg patches were being administered during the seventh and eighth weeks; this is equivalent to smoking one third of a pack daily, except that the nicotine was being delivered at a steady rate instead of by bolus. The craving for nicotine would be expected to peak after withdrawal of the nicotine patches (ie, after 8 weeks), and that is precisely when the bupropion hydrochloride should have been on board at the 300-mg dose if meaningful anticraving action was sought. In addition, it should have been continued for another 1 to 3 weeks to improve the short-term success rate. Instead, bupropion treatment was discontinued 1 week before the nicotine patches ran . . . [Full Text of this Article]

AUTHOR INFORMATION
Brian J. Caplan, MD

RELATED ARTICLE

Bupropion for Smoking Cessation: A Randomized Trial
Joel A. Simon, Carol Duncan, Timothy P. Carmody, and Esther S. Hudes
Arch Intern Med. 2004;164(16):1797-1803.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT