Anvisa restricts use of Zolpidem

Anvisa approved last Wednesday (15) the increased control for the medication Zolpidem. Consequently, any medication containing the substance must be prescribed through Notification of Prescription B (blue), as the product is part of the list of psychotropic substances in the controlled substances regulation in Brazil. Prescription type B requires that the specialist doctor be previously registered with the local Health Surveillance authority. The rule will take effect in August.

After the pandemic, cases of insomnia have increased significantly, and in 2022 the Sleep Institute reported that more than half of Brazilians started to sleep poorly and have fewer hours of sleep. As a result, the use of sleeping pills has increased, particularly those containing the substance zolpidem.

According to the president of the Brazilian Sleep Association (Regional ES) and Sleep Medicine specialist and pulmonologist, Dr. Jessica Polese, sleeping pills containing zolpidem and temazepam can become addictive and promote various harms, such as sleepwalking and memory loss. "To give you an idea, zolpidem can cause daytime drowsiness the day after its use. Another danger is mixing it with alcoholic beverages, which affects motor activities. Thus, accidents can occur at home, at work, and on the road, potentially leading to death due to the ingestion of these pills," explains the doctor.

According to the specialist, sedatives have been associated with hallucinations and dissociative behaviors and can lead to dependence, requiring higher doses of the medication over time to achieve the same effect, which has caused addiction and high consumption among the population.