Sleeping pill safety under federal review
Bizarre behaviour ... Chantal Manning-Knight and Colin Massey.
Photo: Fiona-Lee Quimby
Heath Gilmore
March 11, 2007
A FEDERAL health watchdog will review the safety of the controversial sleeping pill Stilnox following the death of a Sydney man.
Adverse Drug Reactions Advisory Committee chairman Duncan Topliss said the dangers posed by the drug would be reviewed at its next meeting.
Last month the committee issued a bulletin alerting Australian doctors to the side effects of the drug, including reports of people driving while asleep.
On February 16, Sydney man Jonathon Mark, who had been prescribed Stilnox, fell to his death from the 12th floor of a North Sydney unit.
More than 40 readers came forward to complain about bizarre side effects from taking the drug after reading of Mr Mark's death last Sunday.
"We haven't made a recommendation to take the drug off the market," Associate Professor Topliss said. "Our initial assessment was that there was a small problem. However, there were concerns, which is why we put out the bulletin alert.
"All drugs have side effects . . . Clearly some drugs may be so dangerous to a small few that the downside outweighs the benefits to a larger number."
Colin Massey believes the drug should be banned. He and his wife, Chantal Manning-Knight, of Paddington, suffered serious side effects while taking prescribed Stilnox tablets on a flight from Hong Kong to Australia in January.
"We hadn't been drinking and just wanted to get to sleep," he said. "At an early stage of the flight we both started sleepwalking and, while in that subconscious state, we also inadvertently consumed more tablets.
"We became ill and vomited profusely on the plane in the aisle and on the wall due to an overdose. The flight attendants were very worried about our bizarre behaviour."
In defence of Stilnox, Horst Flugel, 76, of Chatswood, said the medication had given him relief from insomnia.
Stilnox
Recommended for short-term use to treat insomnia.
Manufacturer says adverse effects can include drowsiness, dizziness, headache, diarrhoea, nausea and muscle weakness.
It says less-common effects are changes in behaviour, agitation and hallucinations.
CASE 1
Gladesville woman Pamela (surname withheld at her request) recalls waking one morning last year after taking Stilnox. "There was a dinner plate on the bench, with the contents of a large packet of cornflakes, the whole box emptied onto the plate," she said. "By the looks of it, I had been eating them with a knife we use for cutting bread. Quite sharp, very scary."
CASE 2
A Hurstville Grove couple had taken one tablet each before bed. She hallucinated she was floating above the bed. "I started to projectile vomit, like that movie with Linda Blair," she said. "My husband is a tradie and got his tool belt on and egg flips and all sorts of kitchen appliances to help clean up. The next morning we thought it was a bad dream. It wasn't."
CASE 3
Neutral Bay man Evan Dillner was flying back from London four years ago. He took two tablets an hour out of Bangkok and on arrival in Sydney felt strange, like he was floating. Customs found the Stilnox in his bag. "[But] I just walked out. They didn't try to stop me. [My wife] said I got a taxi home and promptly went to bed. I had no idea how I got home."
I didn't until I was told about mine.
