SLEEP MEDICATION WARNINGS

SLEEP MEDICATION WARNINGS

On March 14, 2007, the Food and Drug Administration issued a special release warning consumers and physicians about safety risks of many prescription sleep medications. The warnings involve potential allergic reactions as well as activities of daily living where adverse events have been reported such as sleep driving, making telephone calls and preparing food with use of a stove, oven and sharp instruments including food processors, blenders and knives. The combination of these types of complex activities may result in serious personal injuries or death from motor vehicle crashes and trauma in the kitchen and elsewhere. The sleep inducing medications include:

Ambien/Ambien CR (Sanofi Aventis)Butisol Sodium (Medpointe Pharm HLC)Carbrital (Parke-Davis)Dalmane (Valeant Pharm)Doral (Questcor Pharms) Halcion (Pharmacia & Upjohn)Lunesta (Sepracor) Placidyl (Abbott)Prosom (Abbott)Restoril (Tyco Healthcare)Rozerem (Takeda)Seconal (Lilly)Sonata (King Pharmaceuticals)

The FDA is working with drug manufacturers to improve warning labels, alert health care providers and warn consumers.


Stewart M. Casper
Casper & de Toledo LLC
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Stamford, CT 06905
Tel. (203) 325-8600
Fax (203) 323-5970
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