Lunesta Receives Final FDA ApprovalInitial Comments on New Insomnia Drug

As reported in CCN Money, among other sources, a pharmaceutical company called Sepracor had obtained FDA approval for its new drug, Lunesta (eszopiclone).  Their stock went up by 15% immediately.  Looking through the news reports, most of them focus upon the financial implications of the impending release of this new product.  Patients, however, probably don't care much about that.  They want to know about the drug itself.

It turns out that technical information is hard to come by.  For a short, general discussion of insomnia, see this Medscape CME article (free registration required.)  For the package insert, see this PDF file.  A list of references can be found at the Sepracor site, here.  A Medline search reveals only one article with relevant information.  Read the rest at The Rest of the Story.