Fort Hood Pilot said "I don't know how to live in this world" before suicide

Who's Left Behind When a Soldier Commits Suicide?
Becca Morrison's husband came home from Iraq and killed himself. She's "still here, and still fighting."
Dallas Observer
By ANNA MERLAN
Thursday, Jun 20 2013

The day after her husband's funeral, a week or so after she found him, Rebecca Morrison somehow managed to get dressed and get in the car. She was exhausted, wrung out of tears.

She could barely move or speak. All that week her family and friends had to feed her, bathe her, walk her to the bathroom, sleep beside her. Every few seconds she had flashbacks to the scene in their house. Each time, she screamed.

"I miss Iraq," Ian would tell Becca. "I miss the regimen of it. I don't know how to live in this world."

Becca flew to New York to talk about equine therapy with soldiers there, and keeps a horse of her own.

Now she and her mom had to get back from Killeen, where Ian's funeral had been held, to Dallas, where Becca's parents lived. Becca, 25 at the time, had been given a lot of medication to help her through: Xanax, Ambien, an antidepressant, things she didn't usually take. Between the meds and the grief, she could barely speak. She slumped in her seat. Her mom, Pam, drove and worried.

The following Monday, Ian showed up at the Thomas Moore Clinic at Fort Hood and waited for more than three hours, she says. Finally, someone told him that because he flew helicopters, they couldn't see him there. He'd have to see his flight surgeon instead. He was sent away empty-handed, Becca says. (Officials at Fort Hood did not respond to multiple interview requests.)

When he finally did see the flight surgeon that afternoon, Becca says, Ian came home complaining that the man was brusque and cold. He prescribed him Ambien, grounded him from flying helicopters — a huge blow to a pilot — and told him to come back in a week. Ian also tried the next day to enroll in a sleep study on the base and was told there'd be no openings for a month.

Two days later, Ian saw a second flight surgeon. This one quickly diagnosed him with major depression, then gave him prescriptions for antidepressants and anti-anxiety meds.

Recognizing the seriousness of that diagnosis, Becca urged Ian to go to the R and R clinic on the base, their equivalent of an emergency room. He did, talking to her on the phone the whole way there. But he soon left after being told that the wait was more than two hours. He drove home instead, where he waved to the couple's neighbor, parked the car in the garage and went inside. He left his shoes lined up neatly by the door.

The couple had been texting back and forth all day; in late afternoon, heading into her evening classes and still worried, Becca suggested Ian call a 24-hour military crisis hotline called Military OneSource. He promised that he would. About 45 minutes later, he texted her to say that he was still on hold. At 7 p.m. or so, while she was leading a group therapy session and couldn't pick up the phone, he called. He didn't leave a message.

Becca got home a few hours later. She walked into their bedroom and found his body surrounded by blood, a handgun lying nearby.
read more here

"I don't know how to live in this world." The truth is, after all these years, most do not. How can that be when every month is seems the military is issuing another press release on how they "get it" and are taking steps to reduce suicides? It looks as if members of Congress have figured out the right way to play the game of appearing to care. Senator Joe Donnelly added insult to injury with his latest attempt.

Jacob Sexton Military Suicide Prevention Act This is based on what is in Donnelly's heart but he is wrong. It may have the opposite results. He mentioned that most do not express their feelings before committing suicide. Why? Why don't they talk about it? Because they feel they cannot or it really won't matter if they do. With all these years of "training" to prevent suicide, don't you think it is time they change what they have been doing?

This is my comment.

"Fit to serve" will prevent them from admitting they need help. I know it sounds good but you have to remember some of these men and women cheat on tests so they can stay in. They do not want to leave where they always wanted to be. Remember, they wanted to join and most never thought of doing anything else. They need to know why they have PTSD and understand it is not their fault. They are not weak but have strong ability to care. The DOD and VA have to undo damage done first.

Donnely mentioned that many of them had not been deployed but did not discuss the fact that training is very traumatic and they hear about the amputations along with deaths from IED. If those who served in combat do not feel comfortable talking, how do they expect those who have not been deployed to talk? They got the message that if they trained right, their brains would be tough enough. In other words that message translated into if they have problems, it is their fault and they are mentally weak. If they thought this "training" would encourage communication, it prevented it instead.

In 2007 then Representative Donnelly thought it was a good idea to privatize TBI treatment.

Pretty much this is all part of why Wounded Times is tracking all these reports. It happened in my own family when no one was really doing much about it. I almost lost my husband but we did lose his nephew. That all happened before all the spending on "prevention" started. In all these years, I have learned what works simply because I paid attention to the experts. I can spot trouble a mile away after over 30 years and everything they claim they are doing are not producing the stated goal.

It is going to get a lot worse and families will have to bury more and suffer for what this nation failed to do.

Ambien could be a nightmare for those with PTSD, study says

Ambien could be a nightmare for those with PTSD, study says
MSN News
By Michelle McGuinness
June 18, 2013

Psychologists found that taking Ambien may make people with anxiety or PTSD remember negative memories more strongly.

People with anxiety or post-traumatic stress disorder who take Ambien to help them sleep may be resting uneasy.

Psychologists at the University of California campuses in Riverside and San Diego found that Ambien may actually make people remember and respond more strongly to negative memories.

The schools said in a news release that zolpidem, the main ingredient in Ambien, enhances a process that occurs while we're sleeping and moves information from short-term to long-term memory.
read more here

Sleep aid may be aiding bad memories to stay

Common Sleep Aid, Ambien, Intensifies Emotional, Negative Memories
By TRACI PEDERSEN
Associate News Editor
Reviewed by John M. Grohol, Psy.D. June 15, 2013

Researchers have identified the sleep mechanism that enables the brain to strengthen emotional memories.

They also found that a commonly prescribed sleep aid heightens the brain’s remembrance of and response to negative memories.

Dr. Sara Mednick from the University of Riverside and her colleagues found that a sleep condition known as sleep spindles — bursts of brain activity that last for a second or less during a specific stage of sleep — are vital for emotional memory.

In earlier research, Mednick demonstrated the vital role that sleep spindles play in transferring memories from short-term to long-term in the hippocampus.

Currently, the U.S. Air Force uses zolpidem as one of the prescribed “no-go pills” to help flight crews calm down after using stimulants to stay awake during long missions, the researchers noted in the study.

“In light of the present results, it would be worthwhile to investigate whether the administration of benzodiazepine-like drugs may be increasing the retention of highly arousing and negative memories, which would have a countertherapeutic effect,” they wrote. “Further research on the relationship between hypnotics and emotional mood disorders would seem to be in order.”
read more here

Also found
Ambien Side Effects

Other side effects including tolerance to the pharmacologic effects of zolpidem (the active ingredient contained in Ambien) have been reported rarely. Withdrawal symptoms after either abrupt cessation or fast tapering may occur. Withdrawal symptoms may include agitation, restlessness, anxiety, depression, insomnia, tremor, nausea, abdominal discomfort, and sweating.

Adverse effects of sleep medications causing emergency situations

The DOD and the VA have been giving Ambien out so check with your doctor.

Sleep Well
Sleep disorders include a range of problems -- from insomnia to narcolepsy -- and affect millions of Americans. Dr. Michael Breus shares information and advice on sleep disorder and insomnia treatments and causes.
WebMD
By Michael Breus, PhD, ABSM

There’s more news about complications that can arise from prescription sleep medication: Side effects from a common prescription sleep aid are sending increasing numbers of people to emergency departments.

The number of people seeking emergency medical treatment for the adverse effects of sleep medications containing zolpidem has risen dramatically in recent years, according to a new federal report. Zolpidem is the active ingredient in several of the most commonly prescribed sleep medications, including Ambien, Ambien CR, Edluar, and Zolpimist.

The report was issued by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s Drug Abuse Action Network (DAWN), which collects information about drug-related visits to emergency departments nationwide. Their analysis included all emergency-department visits that involved adverse effects of zolpidem during the years 2005-2010. During this 5-year period, visits to emergency departments involving adverse effects of zolpidem increased significantly, rising by more than 200%.
read more here

David Ganz lost his son after Afghanistan

David Ganz lost his son after Afghanistan
by Kathie Costos
Wounded Times Blog
March 24, 2013

A news report out of New Jersey connected to Orlando is a great example of why I am writing THE WARRIOR SAW, SUICIDES AFTER WAR. Too many families have no idea what is going on or why they are losing their sons and daughters after combat.

David Ganz lost his son after Afghanistan. He lost him in Orlando Florida after Scott Ganz didn't get the help he needed to heal.

"Scott checked himself into a rehabilitation clinic for two brief stays."

It wasn't that he was unwilling to get help. He tried. He just didn't find what he needed to heal. The fact is 57% of military members lost to suicide had sought help. Senator Joe Donnelly says 43 percent of service members who committed suicide never sought help. Pretty shocking when you consider the military has been telling us for years every member of the military received prevention training designed to make them mentally tough. As a matter of fact last week we learned that there are 900 military prevention programs, all based on "resilience" implying they can prevent PTSD. RAND Corp took a look at some of these programs and found: "there is almost no evidence that resilience can be taught or produced" along with these other problems

– lack of leadership support by the military
– problems with logistics
– limited funding to sustain programs
– poor fit within the military culture
– mental health stigma.

But the DOD pushed these programs anyway without being tested or proven and refused to stop them when the numbers of military suicides, attempted suicides, arrests along with all the other problems went up.

He is one of many getting medication even though most sleeping aids warn against taking them if you are suffering from depression or have suicidal thoughts.

"Scott had gotten prescriptions for medication to help him sleep. But he continued taking the pills long past the seven to 10 days’ recommended usage, his father said."

If he was given something along the lines of Ambien, then that could be part of the problem. It is given to a lot of people and they have no problems with it however if you listen to the commercials for sleep aides, you hear the warning about taking it if you are suffering from depression. "Within military medicine, benzodiazepine use must be even more closely scrutinized because chronic benzodiazepine use poses special concerns among active duty military personnel." There was a great report Prozac Platoon from 2008 of articles on this that can explain how long it was known it is dangerous to give these medications to members of the military.



So what happened to Scott and the others like him?

The reports of the 22 veterans a day committing suicide seemed shocking to some but it was limited. "Forty-two states have provided data or agreed to do so; the study is based on information from 21 that has been assembled into a database." The VA is clear on the fact they know the cause of death for veterans in their system but too many are not in their data base. Researchers gathered data from death certificates when there were suicides as cause of death and reference to military service. In other words, if it was not noted, it was not counted. The report of the 22 a day came from that data and just 21 states.

"Recent studies have suggested that those who served in recent conflicts are 30 percent to 200 percent more likely to commit suicide than their ­non-veteran peers."

The DOD stunned many with the news that as they are reviewing cause of death for members of the military for 2012 the suicide numbers would likely go up.

So parents like David Ganz are left wondering what they did wrong, what could have been done differently and what is being done to prevent other parents from having to bury their sons and daughters after they came home from war.

I left this comment because most of the families do not know what is really going on but they are heroes to me none the less.

A couple of problems with this otherwise great report. The widely reported number of military suicides is wrong. They left out National Guards and Reservist. The total is at least 492 because testimony was given last week those numbers may go up when they catalog means of death. There are 900 Suicide Prevention Programs in the DOD and they are part of the problem. The other issue is medication to sleep because most warn against taking them if you have depression. TBI and PTSD are two different wounds but both can be caused by the same event. A bomb blast is in fact pretty traumatic, but the two of them are not the same. Combat and PTSD has been researched for over 40 years but most of it has been forgotten. David Ganz talking about what happened to his son is more important than he knows. Families blame themselves. He just gave them a voice.

Young veteran's suicide shatters air of stability
North Jersey.com
SUNDAY MARCH 24, 2013
BY JOHN C. ENSSLIN
STAFF WRITER
THE RECORD

Bergen County Freeholder David Ganz had a habit over the last two years of giving his colleagues brief updates at their public meetings on his son Scott, a soldier serving with the Army Reserve.

Scott Ganz, left, shown with his father, Bergen County Freeholder David Ganz. The younger Ganz killed himself in February after returning from serving in Afghanistan. His updates were at times a welcome respite from some otherwise tense political arguments. After one particularly long and heated debate in August, Ganz announced: “My son Scott is home. He’s back from Afghanistan.”

The room broke into spontaneous cheers and applause.

But in late February, the same room turned somber as Ganz disclosed that his son had committed suicide in his apartment in Orlando, Fla. Scott Ganz was 30 years old.

“The sad fact is that a veteran commits suicide every 65 minutes, 22 veterans a day,” David Ganz told the hushed chamber.

“This is not something that this board can do something about,” he added. “But it is something that, as a matter of policy, we need to address with our own veterans, and it’s something the U.S. Army and Congress have to address.”

No one knows why Scott Ganz decided to end his life. His family and friends and investigators with the Army are left with more questions than answers. His death, however, comes at a time when the military has reported a record number of suicides among soldiers returning from combat in Iraq and Afghanistan.
read more here

Prozac Platoon America's Medicated Army

America's Medicated Army
Thursday, Jun. 05, 2008 By MARK THOMPSON

Seven months after Sergeant Christopher LeJeune started scouting Baghdad's dangerous roads — acting as bait to lure insurgents into the open so his Army unit could kill them — he found himself growing increasingly despondent. "We'd been doing some heavy missions, and things were starting to bother me," LeJeune says. His unit had been protecting Iraqi police stations targeted by rocket-propelled grenades, hunting down mortars hidden in dark Baghdad basements and cleaning up its own messes.

He recalls the order his unit got after a nighttime firefight to roll back out and collect the enemy dead. When LeJeune and his buddies arrived, they discovered that some of the bodies were still alive. "You don't always know who the bad guys are," he says. "When you search someone's house, you have it built up in your mind that these guys are terrorists, but when you go in, there's little bitty tiny shoes and toys on the floor — things like that started affecting me a lot more than I thought they would."

So LeJeune visited a military doctor in Iraq, who, after a quick session, diagnosed depression. The doctor sent him back to war armed with the antidepressant Zoloft and the antianxiety drug clonazepam. "It's not easy for soldiers to admit the problems that they're having over there for a variety of reasons," LeJeune says. "If they do admit it, then the only solution given is pills."

While the headline-grabbing weapons in this war have been high-tech wonders, like unmanned drones that drop Hellfire missiles on the enemy below, troops like LeJeune are going into battle with a different kind of weapon, one so stealthy that few Americans even know of its deployment. For the first time in history, a sizable and growing number of U.S. combat troops are taking daily doses of antidepressants to calm nerves strained by repeated and lengthy tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. The medicines are intended not only to help troops keep their cool but also to enable the already strapped Army to preserve its most precious resource: soldiers on the front lines.

Data contained in the Army's fifth Mental Health Advisory Team report indicate that, according to an anonymous survey of U.S. troops taken last fall, about 12% of combat troops in Iraq and 17% of those in Afghanistan are taking prescription antidepressants or sleeping pills to help them cope. Escalating violence in Afghanistan and the more isolated mission have driven troops to rely more on medication there than in Iraq, military officials say.

But if the Army numbers reflect those of other services — the Army has by far the most troops deployed to the war zones — about 20,000 troops in Afghanistan and Iraq were on such medications last fall. The Army estimates that authorized drug use splits roughly fifty-fifty between troops taking antidepressants — largely the class of drugs that includes Prozac and Zoloft — and those taking prescription sleeping pills like Ambien.

Medication helps but it is not the answer. All psychiatric medications come with them a requirement the patient is monitored. Medication alone cannot and should not be expected to treat PTSD. If you go to the link of the video below, you will hear how talk therapy works best when addressing PTSD and how the brain manages to learn how to reprocess the events.

Ambien itself is a danger

U.S. Food and Drug Administration urged sleep drug manufacturers Wednesday to strengthen their package labeling to include warnings of sleep walking, "sleep driving" and other behaviors.

A class action lawsuit against Sanofi-Aventis, the maker of Ambien, was filed on March 6, 2006, by those claiming that they engaged in a bizarre variety of activities while asleep after taking the drug -- from binge eating to driving their cars while asleep.
http://abcnews.go.com/Health/Story?id=2952054&page=1

When it comes to fighting wars, though, troops have historically been barred from using such drugs in combat. And soldiers — who are younger and healthier on average than the general population — have been prescreened for mental illnesses before enlisting.

Here is just one more example of how any kind of non-sense of a preexisting personality disorder is not possible. Unless the tests given are flawed, there is no way a soldier can have a mental disorder and be enlisted in service and given a weapon.

Medication for a wound of the mind and a weapon is not a good idea. It is not only giving the soldier a means to end their suffering, it puts the rest of the platoon in danger.

The symptoms often continue back home, playing a key role in broken marriages, suicides and psychiatric breakdowns. The mental trauma has become so common that the Pentagon may expand the list of "qualifying wounds" for a Purple Heart — historically limited to those physically injured on the battlefield — to include posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Defense Secretary Robert Gates said on May 2 that it's "clearly something" that needs to be considered, and the Pentagon is weighing the change.

The Army says half of the suicides among the troops happen after a breakup. While some want to dismiss this percentage of suicides as "just another breakup" the soldier couldn't deal with, they do not look at the root cause of the breakup. Extended deployments and redeployments play a role in this however we do a disservice to the soldiers when we leave it at that. People do get depressed when they breakup with someone they love in normal life. Divorce is stressful. A serious relationship ending is stressful, however, we do not see anything near this rate in "normal" life. What we do see is that when PTSD is alive in a relationship, the relationship itself becomes stressful. (More on this below) What needs to be addressed is why there are so many divorces and breakups instead of just leaving it at that.

Which means that any drug that keeps a soldier deployed and fighting also saves money on training and deploying replacements. But there is a downside: the number of soldiers requiring long-term mental-health services soars with repeated deployments and lengthy combat tours. If troops do not get sufficient time away from combat — both while in theater and during the "dwell time" at home before they go back to war — it's possible that antidepressants and sleeping aids will be used to stretch an already taut force even tighter. "This is what happens when you try to fight a long war with an army that wasn't designed for a long war," says Lawrence Korb, Pentagon personnel chief during the Reagan Administration.
go here for more
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1811858,00.html

While the Army can come out with all kinds of studies showing the harm being done to the soldiers with the extended deployments and redeployments, the DOD is not considering any of the studies. They just do it because they can. Imagine being at the end of your part of the deal with the DOD that tells your brain your time is over and you get to go back to civilian life in a manner of weeks only to discover that you have been "stop-loss" and extended with or without your agreement. This is not just a let down but an attack on the brain. It is not just a matter of sending them home to "rest" because they cannot when they know they will have to go back into Iraq and Afghanistan and the danger to their lives is not over but in a truce instead.


Many spouses are not able to cope with the stress of the redeployments and extended tours of duty. No matter how much support they receive from friends and families, it is nearly impossible to stay in the marriage when PTSD is added into the stress they have to endure. Give the fact that there are still too many military spouses unaware of what PTSD is, they lack the tools to cope with the emotional changes on the relationship.

In order to retain a trained force and save money, the price is being paid by the soldiers as well as their families. It is an outrageous ambivalence toward all of them when the quality of their lives falls so low in the concern of the command.

The PTSD part of this interview begins about 20 minutes into the program. Dennis Charney MD, Bruce McEwen Ph.D, and Joe LaDeoux Ph.D are interviewed by Charlie Rose.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2325225245580975678&q=+fear+brain&ei=RBlISPfAEYa4igLpgr3NDA

While medications work well, the combination of them, no therapy, no one checking on the patient, a well trained soldier with a weapon, it is a dangerous combination and must end.

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?