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JAMA. 1999;282:1218.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

The FDA has approved zaleplon (Sonata, Wyeth-Ayerst Laboratories, Philadelphia), a very-short-acting hypnotic agent that reduces time required to fall asleep, for the treatment of insomnia. Zaleplon is a nonbenzodiazepine hypnotic of the pyrazolopyrimidine class that interacts with the GABA-BZ receptor complex although it is unrelated to benzodiazepines, barbiturates, or other drugs with known hypnotic properties.

Zaleplon has a very short duration of action—its half-life is 1 hour. Clinical trials of the drug involving 3562 patients with chronic and transient insomnia demonstrated a consistent reduction in the amount of time required to fall asleep, without any increase in the total amount of time slept or a significant decrease in the total number of waking times during the night. Because of its short duration of action, patients generally had no residual drowsiness after only 4 hours of sleep. The drug did not demonstrate effectiveness in treating difficulty with shortened total sleep time . . . [Full Text of this Article]

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