Tox on the web: a new sleeping pill

A new kind of sleeping pill: The most interesting read of the week is Ian Parker’s New Yorker article “The Big Sleep” that goes into detail about the history of sedative/hypnotics, and describes attempts to develop a sleeping pill based on a unique mechanism. Suvorexant, a Merck product that seems poised to hit the market shortly, blocks receptors for orexin, a recently discovered neurotransmitter that promotes wakefulness. Notably, orexin does not work — as do barbiturates and benzodiazepines — by enhancing the effect of the neuro-inhibitor γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA). It is fascinating to follow the sparring between the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and Merck, with the government agency pushing for a dose that the company claims in ineffective. To my mind, Parker relies too heavily on the opinions of Dr. Daniel Kripke, who claims improbably that drugs like zolpidem (Ambien) kill as many Americans as do cigarettes, and that “[n]obody dies because they didn’t take a sleeping pill.” (Is Kripke not aware of the hazards of drowsy driving?) For my take on Kripke’s views, click here. Parker does not that Charlie Sheen called zolpidem “‘the devil’s aspirin’ after an incident, in 2010, involving a porn star and a damaged chandelier, in the Eloise Suite of the Plaza Hotel.” Geriatric recreational drug use skyrockets: The Independent (U.K.) reports that the number of A&E visits related to adverse eff...
Source: The Poison Review - Category: Toxicology Authors: Tags: Medical cobalt-60 New Yorker orexin polonium-210 sleeping pill suvorexant yasser arafat Source Type: news