Ex-Commerce chief Bryson won't face charges over car crashes

[alp227]

Source: Reuters

Prosecutors declined to charge former U.S. Commerce Secretary John Bryson on Tuesday over his role in two Los Angeles-area car crashes on the same day in June after blood tests showed he had only low levels of a sleep aid in his system at the time.

Bryson was found unconscious behind the wheel of his Lexus on June 9 after he twice crashed into the same car in San Gabriel, California, left the scene of that accident and later collided with a Honda Accord in nearby Rosemead.

The 68-year-old former energy company executive, who regained consciousness at the scene and was treated at a hospital, resigned in a letter to President Barack Obama less than two weeks later, citing a seizure he said he had suffered on that day.

Bryson had therapeutic levels of the prescription drug Ambien in his system at the time, but forensic technicians were unable to determine if the medication played a role in the crashes, a Los Angeles County prosecutor said in a document explaining the decision not to charge him.

Read more: http://reuters.com/article/idUSBRE86213S20120703

[siligut]

1. Even therapeutic levels of Ambien can cause dangerous behaviors

Unconscious driving while on Ambien is a known side-effect. Though I hope the cause of the seizure is determined. Did you notice all 3 comments are from freepers? They think Reuters is the liberal press.

[targetpractice]

2. It scares me to to think that government officials take Ambien...

I've had my own horrible experiences by taking Ambien as directed… Apart from waking up angry every morning… Bizarre behavior can happen if you are not settled into bed by the time the drug kicks in. I think it should be taken off the market, IMHO.

[Bette Noir]

5. In my practice as a hospice nurse, almost all of my patients on Ambien hallucinated.

Maybe it's worse in people who are sick. If everybody reacted as badly as my patients did, it would never have been approved.

[kestrel91316]

3. Guess the War on Drugs' zero tolerance policies don't apply to 1%ers.

[du_grad]

4. I take Ambien every once in awhile

I work second shift and usually don't get up early. When I know I HAVE to get up early and HAVE to go to bed early I take it. It helps a lot.

There are clear warnings with the extended information one gets with the prescription that you have to plan on getting a full 8 hours of sleep. If you get up early, you can be prone to short term memory losses. I think I got up early once with it and you just kind of bump around the house.

It's not a drug to be taking if you're driving.

Most of these drugs are water soluble. If you drink lots of water in the morning you can flush them out of your system more quickly (I'm a lab technologist).

[freedom fighter jh]

6. When you say "It's not a drug to be taking if you're driving,"

do you mean driving within a few hours or driving the next day?

I got my first Ambien script yesterday. I need it for insomnia (of course), which always strikes me the night before an important meeting, leaving me a sleep-deprived wreck when the meeting comes. These meetings are held in various places; I take public transportation whenever possible (and thus avoid driving), which is not most of the time. So I wonder if I can drive the morning after an Ambien pill

Last night, following the pharmacist's directions, I took the pill about 1/2 hour before I planned to go to bed. About 15 minutes later I felt sleepy, so I headed to the bathroom to brush my teeth. In the mirror, as I brushed, my skin turned brown (not its normal color) and bumpy, and it undulated. Funny thing is that I recognized immediately that this was a hallucination; I never thought something had happened to my face. Middle of the night I woke up to go to the bathroom, and the floor undulated beneath my feet. Kicked my cat, out of a clumsiness that, I suppose, accompanies hallucination. Went back to bed but woke up after a total of 6 hours' sleep, which is enough for me after a non-drugged night, but left me feeling, if no longer detached from reality, then at least not fully functional.

Is this response to the drug likely to get any better with time?

[du_grad]

7. I am not a pharmacist or a doctor

I've never had that kind of reaction to it. I take it literally right before I get into bed, after teeth brushing, etc. I usually read in bed and I find that as it takes effect, I can't concentrate any more so I turn off the light and go to sleep. If I get up to use the bathroom during the night I'm able to do this without any problems like you said.

What kind of dosage did your doctor give you? I am at the lowest dosage, 5 mg. According to this website, 10 mg. is the "normal" dosage. I could check your bottle. If they are generic tablets, perhaps you can slice them in half if you have 10's. I would hazard a guess that 10 mg. might be too strong for you.

http://www.drugs.com/pro/ambien.html

As far as driving: I was "on call" when my daughter was pregnant with her second child. I took one on the Friday night two weeks before her due date. Less than an hour later my SIL called and said her water broke. Somehow I drove to her house but I remember it was very difficult to concentrate. In retrospect, that was a really stupid thing to do.

I work second shift so most mornings I don't drive right away after taking it. I've never had any issues with driving the day afterwards.