The sleeping pill that puts you to sleep AND wakes you up

Advertisements and PR for sleeping pills (and other medications, too) crack me up, like the one for Lunesta with the freaky glowing butterfly that floats into everyone's bedroom. (Word to the wise: if you're lying in bed and you see a radioactive moth hovering over your head, don't close your eyes. Swat that unholy thing and run.)

But the makers of Ambien seem to be experiencing some mixed PR of late. First came the stories that arrests for driving while under the influence of Ambien are on the rise. Most of the drivers arrested while sleeping behind the wheel didn't even realize they were driving.

You can tell just how powerful Ambien's wake up kick must be, because now there are a limited number of reports of coma patients being temporarily roused by the drug. Three men in England who had been diagnosed as being in a permanent vegetative state (PVS) started interacting with their environment or showed other improvements for short periods of time when given Ambien as part of a research study. The question remains whether the men were misdiagnosed to begin with; supposedly it is impossible to rouse patients in a true PVS by any means.

Ambien: Helps you get a full night's sleep, makes you sleepdrive, and can potentially wake the comatose. I think I'll stick with my long time favorite sleep aid.

[You can read more at New Scientist.]