Sleep-driving

By: Drivers.com staff
Date: 2007-03-19

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Congressional representative Patrick Kennedy focused attention on the problem in May 2006, when he crashed his car into a security barrier outside the U.S. Capitol. Kennedy said he could not recall doing it and recalled that he had taken Ambien and a second drug, Phenergan, prior to driving. Both of these drugs can act as a sedative.

All prescription drugs for insomnia may be capable of causing sleep-driving, according to the U.S. Federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

The FDA wouldn't reveal how many cases of sleep-driving it had linked to insomnia but said it had found more than a dozen reports on the phenomenon and is worried many cases may remain uncounted.

The risk of embarrassment or possible legal problems are cited as reasons why sleep driving problems may be under-reported.

FDA neurology chief Dr. Russell Katz says the problem is rare and he is unaware of any deaths but, he says, the problem is potentially very dangerous.

To lower the risk of a sleep-driving episode, Dr. Katz advised patients never to take any prescription insomnia drug along with alcohol or any other sedating drug, and especially not to take higher-than-recommended doses of the pills.

"We really want people to know these things can occur, and these sleep behaviors can be perhaps to a large extent mitigated by behaviors the patients can control," Katz said.

Some of the insomnia drugs may be riskier than others, so the FDA also recommended that manufacturers conduct clinical trials to figure that out.

The drugs recommended for testing are: Ambien; Butisol sodium; Carbrital, Dalmane, Doral, Halcion, Lunesta, Placidyl, Prosom, Restoril, Rozerem, Seconal, and Sonata.

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