Pharmaceutical sleep aids. In 2006, consumers spent $3.6 billion on prescription sleep medications, up 29% from 2005, according to health care and pharmaceutical consulting company IMS Health. It reports that more than 48 million sleep-aid prescriptions were written last year

More than a dozen reports of patients having sex, binge eating, driving or making telephone calls while taking sleeping pills have been submitted to the FDA, said Russell Katz, director of the agency’s neurology division. The patients didn’t remember what they did.

While no studies have been done to see if there’s a correlation between caffeine intake and the use of sleeping pills, it’s clear that more people need help to keep their eyes shut.

The main difference between all of them [eszopiclone, zaleplon, zolpidem], except for half-life, may be that the manufacturer of Lunesta sponsored a 6-month trial and submitted the results to the FDA, while the other 2 manufacturers did not.

Sepracor Inc. has announced the publication of results of a large, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, two-week study of Lunesta (eszopiclone) for the treatment of insomnia in elderly patients. (Eszopiclone is the active isomer in generic immovane or zopiclone)
The study was conducted in 49 centers across the U.S. and included elderly patients (64-86 years of age; n=264) […]

For every 10 percent increase in advertising for a given type of medicine, prescription sales for the category rise 1 percent, according to a 2003 study by the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation

recent findings indicate that the chronic lack of sleep and untreated sleep disorders may be factors in the development of cardiovascular disease, obesity and diabetes.

A 2005 study by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine said that annual costs associated with lost productivity, missed days and medical bills because of insomnia can reach $107 billion

The OHSU review concluded that these newer sleeping pills were more effective than placebo pills at treating insomnia symptoms and that “although there are some differences between the drugs on some outcomes, no one drug appeared to be consistently superior