Health: Safety Trials For Insomniacs

Six of 10 American adults say they experience sleep problems on a weekly basis. Sleeping pills can help, but what are the risks of taking them night after night for months at a time? Most clinical trials study the effects over very short periods only. That's why there is so much interest in a new study sponsored by the drugmaker Sepracor and led by Dr. Andrew Krystal, director of Duke University's Sleep Research Laboratory and Insomnia Clinic. It monitored users of a Sepracor pill called Estorra (currently under review for approval by the FDA) in a double-blind, placebo-controlled study for six...

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