ANTI-ANXIETY DRUGS LINKED TO INCREASE IN CAR CRASHES

LONDON (AP) -- Drivers taking commonly prescribed anti-anxiety drugs,
such as Valium, are more than twice as likely to be involved in
traffic accidents as those not taking the drugs, a new study says.

The risk of accidents for people under the age of 45 is more than
three times as great for those who take the drugs, according to the
research, published in today's edition of the British medical journal
The Lancet.

"The current warnings are that if you feel drowsy, don't drive. That
needs to be changed," said Dr. Tom MacDonald, a clinical
pharmacologist from the University of Dundee in Scotland who led the
study.

"I would say: If you use these drugs, don't drive."

Thousands of lives could be saved worldwide every year, and hundreds
of thousands of traffic accidents avoided, if people who use such
drugs did not drive while on medication, the researchers said.

Tranquillizers such as Valium, the drug generically known as diazepam,
are commonly used to treat anxiety, other stress-related disorders and
muscle spasms.

They are the most commonly prescribed type of tranquilizers, with 18
million prescriptions in Britain alone in 1997.

Worldwide figures were not available.

Checked-by: Patrick Henry