Popular Sleeping Pill Linked to 'Sleep Driving,' New York Times Reports

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,187230,00.html

Zombie drivers — motorists driving under the influence of the popular prescription sleeping pill Ambien, possibly while sleepwalking and unaware they are doing so — are a rising threat on U.S. roads, according to a report published in the New York Times Wednesday.

According to the Times, ten state toxicology labs that test for the presence of the drug rate Ambien among the top 10 drugs found in impaired drivers. In Wisconsin, Ambien was identified in the bloodstreams of 187 drivers arrested between 1999 and 2004, the newspaper reported. In Washington State, Ambien was found in 78 impaired drivers arrested in 2005, up from 56 the previous year.

Following their arrests, many of the Ambien drivers claim to have no recollection of getting behind the wheel, according to the report. In many of the cases the drug appears to have been taken incorrectly, combined with alcohol or other drugs or taken in overdose quantities; several of the cases suggest, however, that even when the drug is used properly, a sleepwalking side effect may lead to sleep driving, the Times reported.

In 2004, the FDA received 48 reports of “adverse events” involving Ambien without the use of other drugs, the Times reported. Those events included three sleepwalking cases, a traffic accident and six reports of hallucinations, the newspaper said.

A) Kennedy is telling the truth.

B) Kennedy's people saw the same reports you did and figured this was a great way to slip out of the drunk-driving noose.

I'm kinda of the same mind as Skinner on this one. It's just a little too much for me to believe. That said, I find it a bit annoying that people scream about preferential treatment regarding Kennedy when we didn't hear nearly as much of this when the VP shot a man in the face.

several records of this

Maybe a copy of the prescription, but surely in the patient's file with the prescribing physician. And don't pharmacists keep records of what they dispense and to whom?

If Kennedy was on a sleep drug he ought to be able to demonstrate the supporting paperwork (even if he needs some Italian help).

...whether Ambien has been linked to sleep decidering. That would explain a hell of a lot.

good one. A distinct possibility.