Wednesday, October 15, 2003
WHO NEEDS AN 80-HOUR WORKWEEK WHEN YOU HAVE THIS?!?
Modafinil, sold under the name Provigil, was originally approved by the Food and Drug Administration in 1998 to treat narcolepsy, a serious condition in which people cannot stop falling asleep.
But since its introduction, the number of off-label prescriptions for Provigil has skyrocketed, with an estimated 80 percent of prescriptions for the drug going to night-shift workers, truck drivers, pilots and soldiers — jobs in which it's crucial to remain awake and alert. Now the FDA may approve it for wider use — a move that has met with some controversy.
This kind of reminds me of that X-Files episode where the soldiers were operated on in such a manner that they did not sleep and one of them was killing the medical team who performed the procedure. |
Modafinil, sold under the name Provigil, was originally approved by the Food and Drug Administration in 1998 to treat narcolepsy, a serious condition in which people cannot stop falling asleep.
But since its introduction, the number of off-label prescriptions for Provigil has skyrocketed, with an estimated 80 percent of prescriptions for the drug going to night-shift workers, truck drivers, pilots and soldiers — jobs in which it's crucial to remain awake and alert. Now the FDA may approve it for wider use — a move that has met with some controversy.
This kind of reminds me of that X-Files episode where the soldiers were operated on in such a manner that they did not sleep and one of them was killing the medical team who performed the procedure. |
