The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) says that people in Taiwan are consuming 337 million sleeping pills annually. If those pills were lined up single file it would be about the same distance as Sun Yat-sen Freeway, or 327km. The FDA urges the public to form good sleeping habits.
Soporifics are prescription drugs classified as Schedule 3 and Schedule 4 controlled drugs in Taiwan. According to statistics, begun in 2011, the three most popular sleeping pills last year were Zolpidem, Estazolam and Bromazepam. Last year there were 16 cases in which doctors were caught improperly administering sleeping pills. All of the cases have been processed in accordance with the law.
The FDA commissioned a sleeping pill inspection project starting in 2011. The amount of sleeping pills consumed last year showed a downward trend. The FDA encourages people with sleeping disorders to seek help from sleep specialists and psychiatrists to find the cause and have the disorder properly treated.
Photo: EPA
照片：歐新社
(Liberty Times, Translated by Kyle Jeffcoat)
食品藥物管理署表示，國人每年服用約三億二仟七佰萬粒安眠藥，若將這些下肚的安眠藥逐一排列，相當於長度三百二十七公里的中山高速公路，呼籲國人養成良好的睡眠習慣。
安眠藥屬第三、四級管制藥品，為醫師處方用藥，自二０一一年起，根據統計，去年全國使用安眠藥前三名分別為佐沛眠、舒樂安定及溴西泮，去年共查獲十六件醫師不當開立安眠藥之案件，均已依法辦理。
此外，食藥署自二０一一年起開辦安眠藥稽核專案計畫，去年安眠藥使用量已呈現下降趨勢，食藥署呼籲民眾，若有睡眠障礙，應求助於睡眠或精神科醫師，積極找出病因，解決睡眠障礙問題。
（自由時報）
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