Have You Seen the Ambien and Lunesta Commercials? Do They Tell You That They Might Make You Crazy?

No… I bet not!

New warnings for sleeping pills

“The most widely prescribed sleeping pills can cause strange behavior like driving and eating while asleep, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, which announced Wednesday that strong new warnings would be placed on the labels of 13 drugs. The agency also ordered the makers of the well-known drugs, Ambien and Lunesta, and the producers of 11 other commonly used sleeping pills to create patient fliers explaining how to safely use them. The fliers, which the agency says it requires when it sees a significant public health concern, will be handed out at pharmacies when consumers fill their prescriptions. Although the agency says that problems with the drugs are rare, reports of the unusual side effects have grown as use of the sleeping pills have increased. U.S. sales of Ambien and Lunesta alone last year exceeded $3 billion. Use of those medications and other similar drugs has soared by more than 60 percent in the United States since 2000, fueled by television, print and other advertising. Last year, makers of sleeping pills spent more than $600 million on consumer advertising.” (Emphasis mine!)

$600 Million to tell you how GREAT the drugs are… but simple fliers that tell you, oh yeah, by the way… they may turn you into a loon!