The Big Sleep

With suvorexant, Merck thinks it has created a better sleeping pill—one that could supplant Ambien as the drug of choice for insomniacs. But getting it to market is a long slog, and then there’s the question of dosage:

The committee was asked to vote on the question: Would a ten-milligram dose require additional studies before it could be approved by the F.D.A.? It voted no. Paul Rosenberg, a psychiatrist at Johns Hopkins, said, “I’m convinced that it maybe works.” Clancy said, “I feel like I’m stuck in an old episode of ‘The Twilight Zone.’ The company’s arguing their drug doesn’t work, and the F.D.A. is arguing, ‘Yes, it does.’ ” He said that he needed a sleeping pill.

Author: Ian Parker
Source: The New Yorker
Published: Dec 2, 2013
Length: 42 minutes (10,598 words)
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