Kennedy Blames Accident on Sleep Medicine

AP ^ | 5/4/06 | ANDREW MIGA

[Jean S]

Rep. Patrick Kennedy (news, bio, voting record) crashed his car near the Capitol early Thursday, and a police official said he appeared intoxicated. Kennedy said he had taken sleep medication and a prescription anti-nausea drug that can cause drowsiness.

Kennedy, D-R.I., addressed the issue after a spate of news reports. His initial statement said: "I consumed no alcohol prior to the incident."'

Later, however, he issued a longer statement saying the attending physician for Congress had prescribed Phenergan on Tuesday to treat Kennedy's gastroenteritis.

Kennedy said he returned to his Capitol Hill home on Wednesday evening after a final series of votes in Congress and took "prescribed" amounts of Phenergan and Ambien, another prescribed drug that he occasionally takes to fall asleep.

"Some time around 2:45 a.m., I drove the few blocks to the Capitol Complex believing I needed to vote," his second statement said. "Apparently, I was disoriented from the medication."

Kennedy appeared to be intoxicated when he crashed his Ford Mustand into a barrier on Capitol Hill early Thursday morning, said Louis P. Cannon, president of the Washington chapter of the Fraternal Order of Police.

Cannon, who was not there, said the officers involved in the accident were instructed by an official "above the rank of patrolman" to take Kennedy home.

No sobriety tests were conducted at the scene.

A letter written by a Capitol Police officer to Acting Chief Christopher McGaffin said Kennedy appeared to be staggering when he left the vehicle after the crash about 3 a.m. The letter was first reported by Roll Call, a Capitol Hill newspaper.

Kennedy said he was late for a vote, officer Greg Baird said in the letter to McGaffin. Baird is acting chairman of the Capitol Hill chapter of the FOP police union. The last vote of the night had occurred almost six hours earlier.

Kennedy said he was driven home by Capitol police.

"At no time did I ask for any special consideration," he said. "I simply complied with what the officers asked me to do."

Kennedy, the son of Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (news, bio, voting record), D-Mass., and his staff declined to discuss any further details of the accident. The congressman took part in House votes Thursday.

Capitol Police did not immediately return phone calls for comment. They issued a one-line statement saying they were investigating a traffic violation that occurred early in the morning at that location.

Baird wrote McGaffin that two sergeants who responded to the accident conferred with the watch commander and were ordered to leave the scene.

He said that after the officers left, Capitol Police officials gave Kennedy a ride home.

Kennedy spent time at a drug rehabilitation clinic before he went to Providence College. He has been open about mental health issues, including being diagnosed with bipolar disorder.

___

Associated Press writer Laurie Kellman contributed to this report.

[daybreakcoming]

You are right about the ambien - it absolutely puts you to sleep. As does the phenergan. Together? WHOA - you are skating close to the edge of not waking up - much less going to vote.

I know there are some claims now from people that ambien makes them sleepwalk, eat everything in the kitchen and don't understand why they are gaining weight. So blaming ambien. Bet they didn't know it would make them want to go vote.

Kennedy had help thinking this one up.

[w1andsodidwe]

Why didn't he say this in his FIRST STATEMENT?

Takes some time to research drug interactions to come up with a mixture that matched his behavior.

[toldyou]

I just added, "likefatherlikeson," to the keywords. They are a hoot!

[pepperdog]

"Kennedy said he had taken sleep medication and a prescription anti-nausea drug that can cause drowsiness."

Poor man, that nasty medicine also caused him to have hallucinations that he was needed on the Hill at 3:00am. He'd probably be better off to take a great big hit of whiskey.

[roses of sharon]

LOL, cut the drama, it does not work with me.

[no dems]

"Baird wrote McGaffin that two sergeants who responded to the accident conferred with the watch commander and were ordered to leave the scene."

Ordered to leave the scene and then Capitol Police drove Rep. Kennedy home. "Ordered"?

[danamco]

LIKE FATHER LIKE SON!!!




Nothing new here, just move on!
It is just the way he was raised by his "role-model" of a father who escaped the Chappaquiddick murder!!
What else should we expect???
Hmmmm!!!

[fatima]

I thought you were part of this crowd?I don't like Rush because of the drug -only 40 pills-charge.

[Cinnamon Girl]

Then it's a DUI and he needs to be ARRESTED NOW!!!!

[Ben Hecks]

Reading the keywords to this article is as funny as reading the thread.

What would be funnier is a list of names and phone numbers that Patches called between 3:00 AM and 9:00 AM.

[danamco]

Kennedys only drink single malt scotches. But they do drink a lot of it and think it is their right whether they are driving a car or piloting an airplane.




They still have some boot liquor left in their cellar from old joseph's heydays!??!

[toldyou]

somthing about a Family Tradition??!!

That was sooooooooo good, I added it to the keywords!

[bannie]

oo, cute techie law girl is gone.

:-o

I think I'll watch my p's and q's

[danamco]

LOL!
Now these scrip-lings on the Portsmouth Police Department's report written by kennedy would really make any doctor ENVY when they are filling out their prescriptions by hand writings!??!

[fatima]

Dorothy: My! People come and go so quickly here!

[Wil H]

Of course he's lying. It would be nice if they would investigate this...

You don't need to investigate anything.

He is a liar by his own addmission - his statement claimed that he asked for "no preferrential treatment" yet, at the time of the incident, he staggered out of his car and stated that he was "a Congressman and he was late for a vote" (WHICH WAS AN OUTRIGHT LIE).

So what do you think the intent of that statement was? Could it be to exert influence? Surely not...

[Wil H]

Patches Kennedy has now had some time to concoct a story... it was sleep medication, not alcohol. Yeah, that's it... that's the ticket...

Nope! Intoxicated is intoxcated - doesn't matter what the source is....

Anyone ask him what vote he thought he was on his way to make -three hours late...?