A recent study published in the British Medical Journal found that people who take sleeping pills, even at low doses, may be four times more likely to die early compared to those who do not, and they may also be more likely to be diagnosed with cancer. The study reviewed medical records for 35,000 patients, many of whom took Ambien, Restoril, Lunesta and Sonata.
The authors of the study estimate that in 2010, sleeping pills may have contributed to up to 500,000 excess deaths in the United States alone. In the study, about 1 percent of the non-users died during the observation time, whereas 6 percent of the sleeping pill users died. The medical records available for the study didn't include cause of death, so it was impossible to determine how the pills may have contributed to the higher death rate.
Sleeping pills are among the most widely prescribed medications in the United States, some reports say as much as 10 percent of adults use them. The research team found a 35 percent increase in the development of cancer among the patients who took sleeping pills. The study states that at least 24 published studies have now examined death associated with use of the sleeping pills and 18 have reported a significant association. Three other studies have reported an association of sleeping pills with cancer deaths.