Investigation needed Ambien and military use

I received this email from a worried parent.

My son instant messaged me last night. he was going to bed and said that he is being given 3 doses of Ambien by the flight surgeon to help the crews sleep each night. I looked up Ambien and don't like the effects.

But for now, I cant get answers on why they get Ambien and what else.

He is right to be concerned.

FDA Requests Stronger Ambien Warnings
By Jeralyn, Section Off Topic Posted on Wed Mar 14, 2007 at 03:45:07 PM EST Tags: Ambien (all tags)
In addition to sleep-driving, sleep-eating emerging as side effects of Ambien, Lunesta and similar hypnotic-sedative sleeping pills, there is also sex while sleeping.
The FDA is asking the makers of Ambien and similar drugs to strengthen the label warnings on the drugs to disclose these and other risks.

More....
The 13 drugs involved are: Ambien and Ambien CR, made by Sanofi Aventis; Butisol Sodium, made by Medpointe Pharm HLC; Carbrital, made by Parke-Davis; Dalmane made by Valeant Pharm; Doral made by Questcor Pharms; Halcion, made by Pharmacia & Upjohn; Lunesta, made by Sepracor; Placidyl and Prosom, made by Abbott; Restoril, made by Tyco Healthcare; Rozerem, made by Takeda; Seconal, made by Lilly.
There's other side effects too:
Last December, the FDA sent letters to the drug makers, asking them to revise their product labels to include warnings about the potential for severe allergic reactions -- called anaphylaxis -- and severe facial swelling -- called angioedema.
At that time, the FDA also asked the manufacturers to add warnings about complex sleep-related behaviors, including sleep-driving, making phone calls, and preparing and eating food or having sex while asleep, Katz said.
http://www.talkleft.com/story/2007/3/14/16457/3615

But there are even stronger warnings when it comes to the military. Is anyone looking into the connection with soldiers "flipping out" and going on killing rages? Is anyone looking into non-combat deaths in 20 year olds with heart attacks? Died of "natural causes" in young, strong, healthy soldiers, is not "natural" or "normal" and this needs to be looked into. How many of the non-combat deaths can be connected to these kinds of medications?

The most commonly offered treatment for insomnia has historically been a prescription for benzodiazepines [e.g., triazolam, temazepam). Although studies have found benzodiazepines to be effective for insomnia in the short term,9 several problems are associated with chronic use. Potential iatrogenic effects of benzodiazepine treatment for insomnia include psychological dependence and tolerance,' decreased daytime functioning, l'-'3 poor sleep quality,'4 and "rebound insomnia upon withdrawal.15 Furthermore, the internal validity of clinical trials of benzodiazepine hypnotics has been seriously challenged.'6 Within military medicine, benzodiazepine use must be even more closely scrutinized because chronic benzodiazepine use poses special concerns among active duty military personnel. A more recently introduced pharmacotherapy for insomnia is zolpidem tartrate (i.e., Ambien), a nonbenzodiazepine hypnotic. Ambien use has been associated with decreased sleep onset latency, increased total sleep time, decreased total wake time, and increased sleep efficiency. Furthermore, after 7 nights of use, the drug was still effective at reducing sleep latency and increasing total sleep time.17 Nonetheless, as with the benzodiazepines, the Physician's Desk Reference'$ recommends limiting use of Ambien for short-term use (e.g., 7-10 days).
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3912/is_200003/ai_n8893945

Why such a warning? Consider this;

“Soldiers I talked to were receiving bags of antidepressants and sleeping meds in Iraq, but not the trauma care they needed,” says Steve Robinson, a Defense Department intelligence analyst during the Clinton administration.

Sometimes sleeping pills, antidepressants and tranquilizers are prescribed by qualified personnel. Sometimes not. Sgt. Georg Anderas Pogany told Salon that after he broke down in Iraq, his team sergeant told him “to pull himself together, gave him two Ambien, a prescription sleep aid, and ordered him to sleep.”

Other soldiers self-medicate.

“We were so junked out on Valium, we had no emotions anymore,” Iraq vet John Crawford told “Fresh Air” host Terry Gross. He and others in his unit in Iraq became addicted to Valium.

“It concerns us when we hear military doctors say, ‘It’s wonderful that we have these drugs available to cope with second or third deployments,’” Joyce Raezer of the National Military Family Association told In These Times.

“But that statement makes military spouses cringe,” she continues, “Soldiers are saying ‘we don’t have time to recover.’”

Marine psychiatrist Cmdr. Paul S. Hammer confirmed to San Diego Union-Tribune reporter Rick Rogers that Marines with PTSD are returning to Iraq.

In many cases, their problem is labeled stress. “Army docs have told me that commanders pressured them not to diagnose PTSD because it would cut into combat power: the ability to project men and women into war,” says Robinson. “The docs admit that the decision is unethical, but are unwilling to take the huge career risk of becoming a whistle blower.”

http://www.williambowles.info/gispecial/2006/0606/010606/gi_4f1_010606.html

When you look at the non-combat deaths with vehicles, there are many of them. The question is, how many were given Ambien before they happened? Is anyone looking into any of this?

Ambien Linked to Traffic Arrests
The popular sleeping pill Ambien appears to be showing up increasingly as a factor in traffic arrests in the United States, The New York Times reported.
Ambien is among the top 10 drugs found in impaired drivers by some state toxicology laboratories. For example, Ambien was found in the blood of 187 arrested drivers in Wisconsin from 1999 to 2004. In Washington state, Ambien was a factor in 78 impaired-driving arrests last year, up from 56 in 2004.
Some traffic arrests where Ambien was believed to be a factor included drivers who later claimed they were sleep-driving and had no memory of getting behind the wheel after they took the drug, the Times reported.
Ambien is the best-selling prescription sleeping pill in the United States, with 26.5 million prescriptions filled last year.
The drug's maker, Sanofi-Aventis, said the drug is safe when used as directed. However, spokeswoman Melissa Feltmann wrote in an email: "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 post-marketing evaluation about the safety of our products."
FDA spokeswoman Susan Cruzan said the current label warnings on Ambien are sufficient. The warnings say the drug should not be used with alcohol and in some cases can cause sleepwalking or hallucinations, The Times reported
http://www.rockymounttelegram.com/health/content/shared-auto/healthnews/prss/531464.html

The other problem is Zoloft and Paxil

Paxil / Zoloft
Depression / Anxiety Disorders drug linked to suicide

Looks like the company had problems in the past accused of hiding data:

From Boston Globe

Sanofi says to fight class action bid
EmailPrint Text size – + January 4, 2008
PARIS (Reuters) - Drugmaker Sanofi-Aventis , the target of a lawsuit seeking class-action status filed on behalf of shareholders, on Friday vowed to fight allegations it hid the side-effects of its anti-obesity drug Acomplia.

more stories like thisA Sanofi-Aventis spokesman told Reuters that the company had seen the statement issued by the U.S. law firm that filed the lawsuit, Schiffrin, Barroway, Topaz & Kessler, and that it was "disputing the allegations contained in the statement and plans to vigorously defend itself."

Sanofi-Aventis had no further comment.

In a statement available on its website, the law firm said the suit was filed in the U.S. district court for the Southern District of New York "on behalf of all purchasers" of Sanofi-Aventis securities from Feb 17, 2006 through June 13, 2007.

"...the complaint alleges that the company failed to disclose material adverse data concerning Zimulti's tendency to cause a statistically significant increase in psychiatric problems, including suicidal thoughts and actions," the statement said.

On June 13 an advisory committee said the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) should reject the proposed pill, called Zimulti in the United States, because of concerns it could increase suicidal thinking and depression.

http://www.boston.com/news/world/europe/articles/
2008/01/04/class_action_sought_against_sanofi_
report/?rss_id=Boston.com+--+Latest+news

You would think the DOD would be a bit more careful of the way they treat our troops than to pull something off like this, but it looks like they have been doing this kind of thing for a very long time. The parent who emailed me is a veteran who was treated the same way. That's why he's worried about his son. Can you blame him?