Zaleplon
Transcript of Zaleplon
Reactions 970 - 27 Sep 2003
★Zaleplon
First report of CNS depression: case reportA 20-year-old man developed symptoms of CNS
depression, resulting in driving impairment, after takingzaleplon.
The man reported inhaling three crushed zaleplon [‘Sonata’]10mg tablets and ingesting three tablets an unknown timebefore hitting another vehicle while driving. He was unsteadyon his feet, had slow movements and reactions, poor co-ordination and poor attention. An hour later blood testsrevealed concentrations of zaleplon 0.13 µg/mL,chlorphenamine 0.03 µg/mL and dextromethorphan0.08 µg/mL; no alcohol was present. [Patient outcome notstated].
Author comment: "The concentration of zaleplon alone inthe absence of any other drug would reasonably attributed[sic] to impairment. The chlorpheniramine concentrationcould possibly have an additive effect but was withintherapeutic range. The dextromethorphan concentration wasdetermined to be insignificant to psychomotor performance."Stillwell ME. Zaleplon and driving impairment. Journal of Forensic Sciences 48:677-679, May 2003 - USA 807214078
» Editorial comment: A search of AdisBase and Medline didnot reveal any previous case reports of CNS depressionassociated with zaleplon. The WHO Adverse Drug Reactionsdatabase contained seven reports of ataxia, one report ofabnormal co-ordination and two reports of stupor associatedwith zaleplon.
1
Reactions 27 Sep 2003 No. 9700114-9954/10/0970-0001/$14.95 Adis © 2010 Springer International Publishing AG. All rights reserved