Andrew James Smith had been charged with disrupting a Thanksgiving flight forcing the aircraft to make an emergency landing in Fargo, North Dakota. However, the charges were dropped because the erratic behavior was linked to his use of the smoking cessation drug Chantix. Smith had no previous criminal history and prosecutors decided to drop the charges after learning the possible cause of his erratic behavior. The federal Food and Drug Administration issued a public advisory on Feb. 1, warning about a possible connection between Chantix and serious psychiatric problems. The FDA said it had received reports of 37 suicides and more than 400 reports of suicidal behavior in connection with the drug. Gerbasi, a Sacramento psychiatrist, examined Smith on Feb. 14, prosecutors said. “It is Dr. Gerbasi’s opinion, with reasonable medical certainty, that Mr. Smith, at the time of the alleged acts, had a diagnosis of Chantix-induced psychotic disorder, a severe mental disease,” prosecutors said in their motion to drop the charges.
“Mr. Smith’s behavior was extremely psychotic and disorganized,” the government motion said. “Mr. Smith verbalized delusional material that did not make sense and his actions were not goal-oriented.”