PATRICK KENNEDY --"IT'S THE AMBIEN, MAN..."

Not surprised by this one bit...look who his DAD is! Ted Kennedy...the annoying and most boisterous of the Kennedy clan. During his younger years while campaigning for his brother, RFK, Ted Kennedy was drinking and driving, drove off a small bridge, sinking his car and leaving his passenger, Mary Jo Kopechne to die. He didn't report the accident until the next day. His wife turned to alcohol because of him...she now battles alcoholism for the rest of her life.

See my future post on "The Kennedy Curse"

AP--WASHINGTON - At 2:45 a.m. Thursday morning, Kennedy was driving his Ford Mustang with the lights off, had a near miss with a Capitol police cruiser, and then slammed into a security barricade. Police said Kennedy exited his vehicle, was observed to be staggering, and identified himself as a member of Congress. He said he was late for a vote, though the last vote had been hours earlier.

Kennedy said he had taken sleep medication and a prescription anti-nausea drug that can cause drowsiness. Kennedy, D-R.I., addressed the issue after a spate of news reports. His initial statement said, "I consumed no alcohol prior to the incident."


Later, however, he issued a longer statement saying the attending physician for Congress had prescribed Phenergan on Tuesday to treat Kennedy's gastroenteritis, an inflammation of the stomach and intestines. Kennedy said he returned to his Capitol Hill home on Wednesday evening after a final series of votes in Congress and took "prescribed" amounts of Phenergan and Ambien, another prescribed drug that he occasionally takes to fall asleep.


"Some time around 2:45 a.m., I drove the few blocks to the Capitol Complex believing I needed to vote," his second statement said. "Apparently, I was disoriented from the medication." In the later statement, he repeated, "At no time before the incident did I consume any alcohol."


The officers involved in the accident were instructed by an official "above the rank of patrolman" to take Kennedy home. No sobriety tests were conducted at the scene. Kennedy said he was driven home by Capitol police. "At no time did I ask for any special consideration," he said. "I simply complied with what the officers asked me to do."


Kennedy spent time at a drug rehabilitation clinic before he went to Providence College. He has been open about mental health issues, including being diagnosed with bipolar disorder.

Ambien (Zolpidem)

Side Effects of Ambien (Zolpidem) Larger doses of the drug can result in a variety of unwanted side effects:

hallucinations, delusions, poor motor coordination, euphoria (though many instead report dysphoric reactions) increased appetite, increased sex drive, poor judgement, and, following use, inability to remember events that took place while under the influence of the drug (anterograde amnesia).


Before a user becomes fully acclimated to these effects (or if the user does not become acclimated), these symptoms can be severe enough to be deemed as drug-induced psychosis. Incidentally, antipsychotics like ziprasidone (Geodon) or quetiapine (Seroquel) may be prescribed alongside Ambien to both combat these side effects and to aid in sleep-induction, as they can also act as hypnotics. However, because some antidepressants are known for being mildly sedating (i.e., paroxetine), it may be advisable not to use zolpidem and an antidepressant simultaneously.


Some users take zolpidem recreationally for these side effects, however, it is not as common as with the benzodiazepines because of its unique mental imagery (which can distract the user from reality without actually producing genuine hallucinations) and irrational behaviour combined with the amnesia. Accordingly, Zolpidem can also become psychologically addictive if taken for extended periods of time, due to dependence on its ability to put one to sleep or to the unique sense of euphoria it can produce.


Under the influence of the drug it is common to take more zolpidem than is necessary due to forgetting that one has already taken a pill. Users are advised to keep additional zolpidem away to avoid this risk.