Posted on 03/07/2006 8:06:19 PM PST by neverdem
With a tendency to stare zombie-like and run into stationary objects, a new species of impaired motorist is hitting the roads: the Ambien driver.
Ambien, the nation's best-selling prescription sleeping pill, is showing up with regularity as a factor in traffic arrests, sometimes involving drivers who later say they were sleep-driving and have no memory of taking the wheel after taking the drug.
In some state toxicology laboratories Ambien makes the top 10 list of drugs found in impaired drivers. Wisconsin officials identified Ambien in the bloodstreams of 187 arrested drivers from 1999 to 2004.
And as a more people are taking the drug — 26.5 million prescriptions in this country last year — there are signs that Ambien-related driving arrests are on the rise. In Washington State, for example, officials counted 78 impaired-driving arrests in which Ambien was a factor last year, up from 56 in 2004.
Ambien's maker, Sanofi-Aventis, says the drug's record after 13 years of use in this country shows it is safe when taken as directed. But a spokeswoman, Melissa Feltmann, wrote in an e-mail message, "We are aware of reports of people driving while sleepwalking, and those reports have been provided to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration as part of our ongoing postmarketing evaluation about the safety of our products."
A spokeswoman for the F.D.A. said the drug's current label warnings, which say it should not be used with alcohol and in some cases could cause sleepwalking or hallucinations, were adequate. "People should be aware of that," said the spokeswoman, Susan Cruzan.
While alcohol and other drugs are sometimes also involved in the Ambien traffic cases, the drivers tend to stand out from other under-the-influence motorists. The behavior can include driving in the wrong direction or slamming into light poles or parked vehicles...
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
"I can't sleep. I think I'll take an Ambien and then go for a long drive."
How incredibly stupid can some people be?
Do NOT answer that.
Take one tablet before bed...
Take NO tablets before driving...
Car accidents are now 'Ambien's fault'..quick take it off the market
it's too dangerous for people to use or have in their possesions..
I find it hard to believe people can be this dumb.
The problem is we have to be out there dodging them on the roads.
That Ambien stuff is an absolute godsend for eastbound overseas night flights. Sleep soundly all night in economy class, and feel great all the next day in Europe.
Mayber they shouldn't be advertising these drugs on TV, magazines, etc. Maybe they've got the whole country self-medicating. I had no idea this drug has been in use for 13 years, but I must see 13 commercials for it a week on TV.
God forbid you smoke a joint though. And don't be some immigrant grocer and sell cough medicine and a box of matches and aluminum foil to some white trash meth cookers, cause the fed are going to lock you up for that. Keep cleaning the toilets though and the feds will give you every consideration.
Our country is losing its mind. Mine's gone, but I'm just one person.
So what would happen if you took it on a westbound overseas night flight? Would it keep you awake?
So what would happen if you took it on a westbound overseas night flight? Would it keep you awake?
Good one,BearWash!
Bush's Fault.
Most Westboung TransAtlantic flights that I know about leave in the AM and get to the US in the afternoon. Westboung flight are "easy" to me.
I don't understand why Eastbound Trans Atlantic don't leave in the Am so you get to Europe in the early PM and just go right to bed. I usually feel like a zombie the first couple of days in Europe after an evening flight.
Now Qualludes really make you drive stupid.
Every westbound transoceanic flight I have ever taken was a night flight and I generally slept nearly all the way to New Zealand.
The danged government just wants to take all the fun out of getting drunk and drugged up and operating "heavy machinery".
There's just nothing like getting really snockered and running a good backhoe or bulldozer.
In vino, veni, veritas. Oops.
But it does not require help to sleep in those circumstances. It requires help when you are leaving Chicago at 4PM, and arriving in London 8 hours later, at midnight on your body-clock.
I think so, but only if you're in the southern hemisphere...
Does anybody read the article?
Do NOT answer that.
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