Kennedy Blames Accident on Sleep Medicine

AP ^ | 5/4/06 | ANDREW MIGA

[Jean S]

Rep. Patrick Kennedy (news, bio, voting record) crashed his car near the Capitol early Thursday, and a police official said he appeared intoxicated. Kennedy said he had taken sleep medication and a prescription anti-nausea drug that can cause drowsiness.

Kennedy, D-R.I., addressed the issue after a spate of news reports. His initial statement said: "I consumed no alcohol prior to the incident."'

Later, however, he issued a longer statement saying the attending physician for Congress had prescribed Phenergan on Tuesday to treat Kennedy's gastroenteritis.

Kennedy said he returned to his Capitol Hill home on Wednesday evening after a final series of votes in Congress and took "prescribed" amounts of Phenergan and Ambien, another prescribed drug that he occasionally takes to fall asleep.

"Some time around 2:45 a.m., I drove the few blocks to the Capitol Complex believing I needed to vote," his second statement said. "Apparently, I was disoriented from the medication."

Kennedy appeared to be intoxicated when he crashed his Ford Mustand into a barrier on Capitol Hill early Thursday morning, said Louis P. Cannon, president of the Washington chapter of the Fraternal Order of Police.

Cannon, who was not there, said the officers involved in the accident were instructed by an official "above the rank of patrolman" to take Kennedy home.

No sobriety tests were conducted at the scene.

A letter written by a Capitol Police officer to Acting Chief Christopher McGaffin said Kennedy appeared to be staggering when he left the vehicle after the crash about 3 a.m. The letter was first reported by Roll Call, a Capitol Hill newspaper.

Kennedy said he was late for a vote, officer Greg Baird said in the letter to McGaffin. Baird is acting chairman of the Capitol Hill chapter of the FOP police union. The last vote of the night had occurred almost six hours earlier.

Kennedy said he was driven home by Capitol police.

"At no time did I ask for any special consideration," he said. "I simply complied with what the officers asked me to do."

Kennedy, the son of Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (news, bio, voting record), D-Mass., and his staff declined to discuss any further details of the accident. The congressman took part in House votes Thursday.

Capitol Police did not immediately return phone calls for comment. They issued a one-line statement saying they were investigating a traffic violation that occurred early in the morning at that location.

Baird wrote McGaffin that two sergeants who responded to the accident conferred with the watch commander and were ordered to leave the scene.

He said that after the officers left, Capitol Police officials gave Kennedy a ride home.

Kennedy spent time at a drug rehabilitation clinic before he went to Providence College. He has been open about mental health issues, including being diagnosed with bipolar disorder.

___

Associated Press writer Laurie Kellman contributed to this report.

[beyond the sea]

Rep. Patrick Kennedy (news, bio, voting record) crashed his car near the Capitol early Thursday

At least he didn't drive off the Dike Bridge into a pond.

[beyond the sea]

lol

[beyond the sea]

"I must be the only person in America who doesn't have bipolar disorder. I think most of these people really have spoiled rotten brat disorder." ---

LOL, .............. and true.

[panthermom]

Thanks, I just woke up saw this picture and almost hurled on the floor.

[Beowulf]

It's pretty obvious that alcohol wasn't involved since he comes from a family of lying drunkards.

[johnny7]

McKinney... Mollohan... Jefferson... Kennedy.... where's the end to this Democrat... 'culture of corruption'?!

[Sally'sConcerns]

Any doctors out there? Would a doctor prescribe these two drugs together?

WebMD says that Phenergan shouldn't be taken with any sleep inducing drug, which is what Ambien is.

I'm not a doctor but I have taken both Ambien and phenergan together (under a Dr.'s care) Phenergan has absolutely no drowsy or sleep inducing properties on me. Ambien has little effect on me either. Nyquil makes me sleepier than Ambien does. I rarely take Ambien simply because it doesn't do much in helping me be able to sleep. I do take phenergan regularly because of a stomach problem which will hopefully be cured once I have surgery. If I had to give a guesstimate as to how many times I've combined the two, I'd probably say a max of three times in the last 6-7 months.

The few times I've combined the two I did not stagger around, slur words or act under the influence in any way. I also didn't have a burning desire to leave the house for any reason either. The reason I didn't want to go anywhere was because of the condition the phenergan was treating...nausea. When I'm nauseated I don't want to do anything except find a way to make the nausea go away, I sure as heck don't want to be out driving around.

I do understand different meds can affect people differently than they do me. Still, what in the world was he doing out driving around if he was feeling nauseated?

Since he's admitted to driving under the influence, he should be charged just like any one of us would be. More than likely though, he won't be because of who he is.

My question is, since he's confessed to driving while having taken these meds, will he be charged with driving under the influence or will no charges be filed since testing for alcohol/drugs wasn't done.

[Tiberius109]

Bet if you had a "few on the rocks " you'd be acting like him on those meds.

[maryz]

people getting up out of bed and sleep-driving under Ambien.

The doctor Rita Cosby had on (I was watching because I knew she'd be having Howie Carr on after) said the combination of Ambien and the other drug could maybe, conceivably, theoretically cause this (though he sounded doubtful), but he knew of numerous similar incidents involving people who took Ambien and drank.

[R. Scott]

Kennedy said he had taken sleep medication and a prescription anti-nausea drug that can cause drowsiness.

So? He was still driving while under the influence.

[Mo1]

The Kennedy's a one messed up family

[LibSnubber]

"I read or heard that one of the police officers said he smelled like alcohol..."

I heard that, too. Steve Doocy on Fox & Friends said it this morning.

[synbad600]

Somnambudriving.

[Sacajaweau]

No one has said anything about anyone else being in the car but I'll bet there was!!

[TaxRelief]

AMBIEN

SIDE EFFECTS

Most common side effects:

• headache
  
• somnolence (sleepiness)
  
• dizziness
  
• excessive voting
  

[1234]

"I read or heard that one of the police officers said he smelled like alcohol..." I heard that, too. Steve Doocy on Fox & Friends said it this morning.

but who's gonna follow-up on this? innuendo's nuttin-'time to move on'....
BTW: CYNTHIA MCKINNEY's story seems to be buried already.

[Eroteme]

I have read reports of people getting up out of bed and sleep-driving under Ambien.

No doubt so has Patrick's lawyer. Hence the new storyline.

No doubt. My first thought too when I saw this nonsense. Since it's unlikely Patrick reads the papers, this was surely the work of his attorney or some full-time Kennedy crisis management handler whose sole reason for being is to conjure "explanations" and have them at the ready. Excuse in a box.

My second thought was that if this is the excuse they settled on, the real story must be incredibly damning.

[thomas16]

I think that if Ambien does cause people to drive in their cars under the influence at 2:45 am and stagger and smell like alcohol the drug and should be taken off the market! Honestly if people loose all control of their senses this drug is seriously dangerous.I've never heard of anything so ridiculous in my life. The officers that interceded should be fired for not doing the routine testing when an accident is involved.

[not2worry]

Well, I am not a doctor and I could have told Rita Cosby that when you drink you have these "side" affects!

Geez, stuck on stupid. You can walk but don't have to chew gum to figure out alcohol doesn't need to be mixed with anything to make you drunk.

At 2:30AM in the morning, didn't his wife wonder where he was going? If he's on medication most wives of bipolar or recovering alcoholics/drug addicts keep a tab on what their loved ones behavior.

Guess the nuts don't fall far from the tree. BTW, does he have to do regular drug testing as required by Rush Limbaugh....oh I forgot he's an elected Big Wig and a Kennedy...sorry for my stupidity.

[pettifogger]

The doc on F&F this am called the drug story "text book." Seemed to me that he was very skeptical, although he never said so outright. His view was that the nausea Rx would have put Kennedy right to sleep, and questioned his taking of Ambien in addition. But, doc noted the reports of "sleep-driving" associated with Ambien use.

In the end, though, Dr. Manny questioned why Kennedy was not taken to Washington General (just four blocks away) to rule out any other dangerous conditions, such as stroke. Made pretty clear (as you read between the lines) that he considered the story fabricated after a little medical research.