Sleeping Pills Increase Risk of Car Crashes
Sleeping Pills Increase Risk of Car Crashes – Researchers say that sleep medications, such as Ambien and Restoril, can double the risk of car crashes because the effects of the pills seem to linger for longer than expected.
Ryan Hansen of the University of Washington’s school of pharmacy, led the study. He and his team looked at medical and driving records of over 400,000 people enrolled in a health plan in the state. Of these, about 6% of them had been prescribed sleeping pills like zolpidem, sold under the brand name Ambien; trazodone, sometimes sold under the brand name Oleptro; and temazepam, brand name Restoril. Of these, the greatest risk was associated with Ambien, at almost double the risk for car crash than those not taking any sleeping pills.
According to Hansen, the risk for car crashes associated with sleep medications is equal to that linked with blood alcohol concentration levels between 0.06% and 0.11%. The legal limit for blood alcohol levels is 0.8%. Researchers say that the sedatives stay in the blood for a long time, making people sleepy even when the drugs should have worn off. They found that some who were on these pills, particularly, Ambien, would wake up in the middle of the night without knowing it, and drive.
In 2013, the US Food and Drug Administration told sleeping pill manufacturers to cut the recommended doses of sleeping pills because of previous studies which showed that they can affect morning driving and cause car crashes.
Researchers say that patients need to be better educated about the risks associated with sleeping pills. The study was published in the American Journal of Public Health.
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