“How in the hell can a guy walk out in 20-below zero and not wake up?”
The answer may be Ambien (via Schwitzer), where there have been previous reports of patients sleep-walking or sleep-driving while on the medication.
The deadly episode wasn’t the first time for this particular patient, who previously “drove into the side of his own garage, knocked a neighbor’s hanging plant off the eave of their house, and came to rest against a tree.”
Discussing this uncommon, but disturbing, side effect should be mandatory prior to starting Ambien in any patient.
