Africa at ALWAYSHOTNEWS.com

08/24/2008		Wedding blast kills 10, injures 48
A GRENADE thrown into a wedding reception in Burundi in Africa has killed at least 10 people and injured 48

08/24/2008		Australian journalist abducted
TWO freelance journalists, an Australian man and a Canadian woman, were abducted today by unidentified armed men near Mogadishu, police and a witness said

08/23/2008		Thousands welcome president`s body
GOVERNMENT officials joined thousands of mourners at Lusaka airport today to welcome the remains of Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa, who died in a Paris hospital this week

08/22/2008		80 wives is 76 too many, man told
AN Islamic organisation in Nigeria has issued a death sentence on a man who married 80 women - many more than the maximum of four allowed by Islam

08/20/2008		Zimbabwe parliament to convene
ZIMBABWE`S parliament is to convene next week for the first time since President Robert Mugabe lost his majority in March elections

08/20/2008		Fire threatens Egypt`s parliament
HELICOPTERS and fire engines had to be called to Egypt`s parliament when a blaze threatened to engulf the building and left 13 people requiring emergency medical help after inhaling fumes

08/19/2008		43 dead in suicide attack
A SUICIDE attack on an Algerian police school at Issers, 60km east of Algiers, killed 43 people and injured 38, the interior ministry said today

08/19/2008		Zambia`s president dies
ZAMBIAN President Levy Mwanawasa has died in a French hospital after suffering a stroke in July, Vice President Rupiah Banda said

08/19/2008		Septuplets` mum `can`t cope alone`
AN Egyptian woman who gave birth to septuplets last week after taking fertility drugs has said her family was too poor to raise the newborns

08/18/2008		Darfur rebel sentenced to death
A SUDANESE court has sentenced to death a top Darfur rebel and seven others, bringing to 38 the number condemned to hang over an unprecedented attack on Khartoum that killed more than 222 people

[11]

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Have Your Say

Latest Comments:

I just have to say this: YES drugs can have side effects, even if you use them 100% correctly and NO these do not affect everyone the same.I have no direct experience with this particular drug, but just because some people claim to use it without any trouble doesn't mean that those who have experienced side effects are irresponsible abusers of the drug.
Posted by: biochemist of ACT 10:12am today

I worked as a Sales Rep for Sanofi for a number of years and my first line drug was Stilnox. When taken properly, the side effects, compared to those of benzodiazapines such as Valium, Temazapam and others, are rare. I think that it needs to be put in to perspective that there will always be side effects, and Stilnox is no different. It is prescribed for the temporary relief of insomnia, and should not be prescribed for periods of longer than one month. Certainly, all of these people who are somewhat hysterically calling for Stilnox to be removed from the shelves are being a little melodramatic. Be responsible with it, and you will reduce the possibility of adverse reactions.
Posted by: Sales Rep of Australia 10:04am today

Why can't we ban this killer drug b4 more people get killed? It's been argued for years.
Posted by: James of Melb. 9:58am today

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TGA slaps "black box" warning on Stilnox
Sleeping pill has bizarre side effects
Not enough evidence to put in morphine category

AUSTRALIA`S drug regulator has slapped a "black box" warning on the sleeping drug Stilnox, saying the public and even some doctors remain unaware of the "serious consequences" it can cause for some patients.

Stilnox, the best-known of several brand names for the drug zolpidem, has come under intense scrutiny after hundreds of reports of patients walking, cooking and even crashing cars while asleep after taking the drug.

The Therapeutic Goods Administration said yesterday the boxed warning was necessary because it was "important that healthcare professionals and the public are advised about these side effects".

However, a TGA committee, the National Drugs and Poisons Schedule Committee, also said yesterday it had decided not todeclare zolpidem a drug of abuse – a move that would have put it in the same category as morphine.

The committee said that while it "acknowledges the concerns that members of the public have raised" about the reported side effects, there was "no compelling evidence" that it should be classified a "schedule 8" drug.

Dangerous sleep behaviours

The boxed warning – which will appear on prescribing information included inside the product packaging – will say that the drug "may be associatedwith potentially dangerous complex sleep-related behaviours which may include sleepwalking, sleep driving and other bizarre behaviours".

It also warns that zolpidem should never be taken with alcohol, that "caution is needed" when taking other drugs that depress the central nervous system, and that patients should not take it for more than four weeks.

In some cases – including that of 30-year-old Sydney woman Mairead Costigan, who fell to her death from the Sydney Harbour Bridge nearly six months ago – the drug had been prescribed for eight months or more.

However, Ms Costigan had switched to another sleeping pill, zopiclone, six days before her death.

"Not surprised"

The TGA said it would meet officials from the National Prescribing Service to strengthen information material for doctors.

Yesterday`s decisions seem unlikely to end the controversy over zolpidem.

Costigan`s sister, Siobhan Costigan, said her family was "very disappointed but sadly not surprised" by the move, as they had been unaware of the NDPSC`s meeting until it was reported by the media 48 hours before the deadline for submissions.

"We strongly believe that the attempts by the TGA to increase warnings about the potential dangers of these drugs do not go far enough in alerting the general public to the serious and potentially devastating side effects these drugs can cause," Ms Costigan said.

"I can assure the TGA that this is only the beginning for us, and we will continue to fight this until Australians are safe from this dangerous and deadly drug."

Some experts backed the NDPSC`s move.

Sleep physician Ron Grunstein, president of the World Federation of Sleep Research Societies, said the decision was "the only decision the NDPSC could make based on the scientific evidence".

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