“Is it a wake-up call for the sleeping pill market?” asks the NYT’s Andrew Pollock, referring to Wednesday’s approval of the new drug Lunesta (great name – they must have had a good focus group). As an occasional (okay, not so occasional) user of sleeping medication, especially when I travel over time zones, I am anxious to see if this new drug does not linger in my body. Its popular predecessor Ambien has long been reputed to vanish from the system within a few hours, but that hasn’t been my personal experience. After taking it for three or four nights in Siberia (no joke), I was so turned around I thought I was in Redondo Beach. And I was as depressed as Dostoevsky before a seizure. Okay, I was mixing it with a lot of vodka, but still…
So I’m looking forward to giving Lunesta a try–it’s supposed to be safe for months on end. What I’m not looking forward to is those endless commercials on cable we will no doubt be seeing in the very near future. You know the kind–beautiful people of all ages and colors sleeping soundly, looking as if they have just had the greatest sex of the century as someone mutters in a rapid, barely audible, monotone…. Not safe for pregnant women, people over six and anyone who has ever had acne.
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