Both indiplon and Estorra are touted as lacking the "hangover" effect some patients feel with Ambien.
"My own mother, I tell her to take an Ambien on a nightly basis, " Scharf says.
There were 26.6 million U.S. prescriptions for Ambien last year, according to IMS Health.
In 2006 Patrick Kennedy, driving on Ambien, had a terrible car crash that made headlines.
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"Look, I took an Ambien backstage, so we've got about seven minutes, " he said at the outset.
Newer drugs like Valium, Halcion and the bestseller Ambien are all just improvements on this ancient mechanism.
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It also raised concerns that, according to recent studies, female users of Ambien were at greater risk.
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But I will try Ambien and Melatonin at some point (though not together) to write a head-to-head comparison.
The U.S. patents on its most famous products, notably Plavix for heart disease and Ambien for insomnia, have expired.
The sales force that has been selling allergy pill Allegra to primary-care doctors could start pitching Ambien as well.
Sleeping pills such as Ambien from Sanofi-Aventis and Lunesta from Sepracor have been some of most heavily advertised drugs.
This stunning rout for therapy follows a 2004 study led by Jacobs, which compared CBT with Ambien in 63 patients.
Rather than put them to sleep, both Ambien and its generic twin, zolpidem, appear to awaken at least some of them.
Sanofi now sells Ambien on its own, but Bristol-Myers Squibb (nyse: BMY - news - people ) markets Plavix.
So far, their best hope has come from an unlikely source: Ambien.
Monsanto is based in St Louis and its products include the artificial sweetener NutraSweet, agricultural products, and drugs, including the sleeping pill Ambien.
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There were 26.6 million U.S. prescriptions for Ambien last year, according to IMS Health (nyse: RX - news - people ).
It remains the most popular psychiatric drug, topping more recently introduced medicines like the sleeping pill Ambien (No. 2) and the antidepressant Lexapro (No. 3).
In 2007, the sleep aid Ambien from Sanofi-Aventis joined that group.
His doctor prescribed the anti-depressant Lexapro and the sleeping pill Ambien.
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Takeda sells Actos, the world's top-selling diabetes pill, and Rozerem, a potential threat to sleep drugs like Lunesta and Ambien that so far hasn't taken off.
The FDA announced this morning that it is recommending the bedtime dose of Zolpidem (brand name Ambien) be lowered due to the risk of next-morning impairment.
FORBES: FDA Takes Action on Ambien; Concedes Women at Greater Risk
On nights when they have different bedtimes, Ms. Ellis may take an Ambien sleeping pill, which keeps her from waking up when Mr. Ellis comes to bed later.
Sleeping pills such as Ambien from Sanofi-Aventis and Lunesta from Sepracor (nasdaq: SEPR - news - people ) have been some of most heavily advertised drugs.
Late last year, 57-year-old Marcia Bergeron ordered a package of what she thought was a generic form of the sleeping pill Ambien from an online pharmacy based in Eastern Europe.
Controlling online pharmacies isn't any easier for the private sector, says Jean-Marc Podvin of Sanofi-Aventis, the manufacturer of drugs like Allegra and Ambien, the drug Marcia Bergeron was attempting to purchase.
The New York Times Magazine had a great piece last week on scattered case reports that doses of Ambien can at least temporarily awaken patients who are in a vegetative state.
Sanofi-Aventis (SNY) : Headquartered in Paris with operations in more than 100 countries, Sanofi makes a wide array of drugs, including Allegra (allergies), Ambien CR (a prescription sleeping aid), and Nasacort (a nasal spray).
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