Jul 23, 2008 10:48 am US/Eastern
Health: Ambien, The Wake Up Pill?
PHILADELPHIA (CBS 3) ―
In health, a remarkable breakthrough, a sleeping pill that can help people in a vegetative state wake up. Medical Reporter Stephanie Stahl has one Northeast Philadelphia family's story of hope.
29-year-old Jimmy Trainor has a brain injury so devastating, he is completely incapacitated.
For his heartbroken parents, the silence is devastating, the caretaking grueling and the memories too painful.
"I don't think about the way he was. I can't, I won't survive like that," said Bonnie Trainor, his mother.
But there's a glimmer of hope. At certain times Jimmy can interact, follow commands.
"We just couldn't believe it. Is this happening? What's going on?" said Bonnie.
Most doctors said there was no way.
Jimmy has been in a permanent vegetative state after a devastating car accident five years ago.
But last year, he was part of a drug experiment at MossRehab at Einstein at Elkins Park.
"When you actually see something like this you think, okay, he's got to be in there," said Bonnie.
Of all things, it was the sleeping pill Ambien that helped Jimmy wake up a little, within an hour.
The effects lasting for about five. He's among a small group of patients in a vegetative state who respond to the drug.
"We just thought this is opening the door for us to bring him out," said Jim Trainor, his father.
Dr. John Whyte, Director of the Moss Rehabilitation Research Institute, who led the Ambien study, says it can have a reverse effect on some vegetative patients.
"I think it's pretty dramatic," said Dr. Whyte. "We think this drug helps re-energize parts of the brain that are not destroyed but are not working."
"It just reassured us that he was, he is in there," said Jim.
So when insurance denied Jimmy further Ambien treatment, the Trainor's decided to continue it themselves at home. They put crushed up Ambien pills into Jimmy's feeding tube.
"We'd like to establish a line of communication. Something. Let us know how you feel? Are you in pain? Yea, that would be wonderful," said Jim.
At this point, when Jimmy is on Ambien, he sometimes follows directions, but doesn't appear to be expressing feelings. His parents say they're going to keep trying.
"I think I can get him back, but not the way he used to be. But I know, I think I can get him back," said Bonnie.
The family gets the Ambien prescriptions and some guidance from doctors, and sure they worry about potential dangers but say doing nothing would be worse.
For more information on future Ambien studies, for people in a vegetative state at Moss Rehabilitation, contact their Neuro-cognitive Rehabilitation Research Network at
215-663-6737 or by emailing them at
ncrrn@einstein.edu.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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