Though the name may be different, it is still the same old sleeping drug Lunesta that has been named differently once it is approved for distribution in Europe. Sepracor is reportedly planning to penetrate the Europe market to help insomniacs residing here. However, Lunesta is already a familiar brand and perhaps changing it catered towards the Europeans can help ease the impressions that some have seen as negative due to some issues.

The Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use gave a “positive opinion” on the drug, which Sepracor (nasdaq: SEPR - news - people ) wants to market in Europe under the name Lunivia. CHMP makes recommendations to the European Medicines Agency, which approves or rejects the applications.

The approval for Lunivia is still in process and once it does, don’t be surprised if you hear of a new sleeping drug in the market. It is something that is already familiar to you.

(Source) Forbes

Normally, people are encouraged not to rely too much on sleeping drugs. For drugs like Lunesta and Vanda, there are proper dosages for them to the people who really want results for their sleep disorders. Normally, doctor’s prescriptions are needed to get them and while many want to play wise, it would be best to stick to the prescriptions given.

Also leave some room for errors in dosage. You may be overdoing it and rather than helping yourself get better, you may find yourself not getting any better. Apparently it would be wise to ask your doctor a second time around just for consistency. One digit can make the difference.

Hundreds of thousands of people rely on sleep aids to get them to bed at night. To try and make sure New Yorkers aren’t abusing the drugs, the state put them all on the list of controlled substances a few years back. Normally, that makes it harder to get more than a month’s supply at a time. But here’s The Real Deal on a man who wasn’t having any problems getting a lot more than that.

(Source) 9WSYR

We all know that sleep deprived people would try anything to help them get the much needed respite and sleep. However, it also remains that they have to consider the safety of taking these sleeping aids. Side effects and potential health risks may be in play and rather than addressing the sleep problem issue, they may just find themselves battling worst case scenarios as far as their overall health is concerned.

There are drugs such as Ambien, Lunesta and Sonata that are available in the market for sleep assistance. But the question still remains on how they may affect the health of a insomnia-ridden individual.

“Even though these are non-narcotic according to TV ads, they can be addictive and a person can abuse them the same way they can abuse (other substances),” Schwartz said. “A few extra, especially mixed with alcohol, could kill you.”

(Source) Fox News