But Williams, 28, said he was surprised that a drug he had hoped would help turn him into a healthier person instead, he believes, caused an accident in which he could have been seriously hurt, even killed.
Lofton is still struggling with a neck injury she suffered.
Williams, a telephone service technician, lives near Rayville, La., between Shreveport and the Mississippi River.
He said he went to see his doctor last year for help quitting his nearly two-pack-a-day habit. He'd started smoking in high school and had failed in previous attempts to quit.
But he knew people who recommended Chantix.
"They were talking about how good it was supposed to be, and it seemed like the right thing to do since I was trying to quit," Williams said.
The crash occurred July 15, two days after he started taking Chantix.
He said the last thing he remembers is heading home after checking on the house of a friend who was out of town.
"I woke up in the bayou, with water coming into the truck," he said. "I didn't know where I was."
Lofton had gotten out first and was on the bank, calling to him. He followed the sound of her voice and paddled to safety.
Williams said he had no history of seizures and does not drink alcohol.
His doctor, who has treated Williams from childhood, made the connection to Chantix.
Williams said he was considering suing Pfizer. His lawyer, Kristian Rasmussen of Birmingham, Ala., said he was aware of at least one other Chantix accident, involving a deliveryman who fell out of a moving truck.
The FDA has received more than 3,000 reports of serious problems involving Chantix, but Pfizer said that had to be put into context, since more than 5 million people in the U.S. had taken the medication.
The company said that no direct cause and effect had been proved between the drug and the problems.
The FDA is most concerned about reports of mental health problems, including more than 400 cases involving Chantix users who reported suicidal thoughts and more than 30 who killed themselves.
Yet many patients report success with the medication.
Kathy MacInnis, 44, of Kingston, Mass., said she had been smoking for more than 30 years and quit on New Year's Day.
"Without Chantix, I had never been able to quit," she said. "It just put me in a calm place."
She was smoking close to two packs a day when her 12-year-old daughter confronted her.
"She came home from school and said her health teacher asked her if her parents smoked, because she could smell it on her," MacInnis said. "That was my turning point."
MacInnis videotaped her story for Pfizer but she said the company did not pay her other than covering the costs of traveling to New York for an interview session.
She reported no unpleasant side effects while taking the medication, only vivid dreams that some call "Chantix dreams."
"The first few days, I kind of felt funny," said MacInnis. "You kind of feel high."
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ricardo.alonso-zaldivar @latimes.com
