Take a guess how hysterically the MSM would be handling this story if Kennedy was a Republican. BTW, FoxNews is reporting that a witness claims he was drinking at the 'Hawk & Dove' bar earlier that evening.
The Patrick Kennedy Story Gets Stranger and Stranger
Betsy's Page
(Updated) To forestall all the rumors that he was drunk, Representative Kennedy now says that his accident at 2:45 am when he crashed into a cement barrier was because he had taken some medication plus a sleeping pill.
<<< 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, an inflammation of the stomach and intestines.
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." >>>
I'm willing to cut him a little slack on this. There is a possibility that his story of drug interactions is true, but we'll never know now because the proper tests weren't done.
From what I've seen with my own family, drugs can have powerful adverse reactions. One relative got so disoriented from a mixture of drugs and tried to go outside naked in the middle of the night. The hospital did all sorts of tests and never seemed to think of drug interactions until I googled the information on the list of drugs that my relative was taking and found that hallucinations were a rare side effect of a couple of them. You get that long list of possible effects when you get a drug, but if you're like most people, you don't pay much attention until something happens. So, my family's experience makes me less skeptical of the idea of drug interactions causing a person to act in a peculiar way.
Ambien doesn't seem to trigger this sort of disorienting reactions.
<<< Events most commonly associated with discontinuation from these trials were daytime drowsiness (1.6%), amnesia (0.6%), dizziness (0.6%), headache (0.6%), nausea (0.6%). >>>
Although there have been some reports of depression triggered by taking Ambien. However, Phenargen's effects do include disorientation and confusion. I'm not sure which strength he was taking, but here are the noted interactions for Phenargen Vc.
<<< Sedation, sleepiness, occasional blurred vision, dryness of mouth, dizziness; rarely: confusion, disorientation, and extrapyramidal symptoms such as oculogyric crisis, torticollis, and tongue protrusion (usually in association with parenteral injection or excessive dosage).
...Nervous System: Restlessness, anxiety, nervousness, and dizziness. >>>
These effects are rare, but apparently they do happen. And the combination with Ambien could have triggered them. Though, since Phenargen can cause sleepiness, it does sound strange that he would take them together.
What does seem strange is that the Capitol Hill police would not have done a sobriety or breathalizer test and just have taken him home. Can you imagine what people would have been saying if this had happened to Tom DeLay? I bet we all hope that we would be shown the same deference and consideration if we we were found driving erratically early in the morning and then drove into a barrier. But that is the Kennedy way.
Note how he was saved from such tests by pressure put on the police.
<<< The incident became public when the union representing Capitol Police alleged in a publicly released letter that superior officers prevented rank-and-file cops from properly investigating the crash.
The letter from the cops union said police spotted Kennedy’s Mustang swerving with its lights off. The car narrowly missed a cruiser before slamming into a security barricade, according to the letter written by officer Chris Baird, chairman of the department’s union.
....Patrolmen’s union president Lou Cannon told the Associated Press that officers were fuming that police brass intervened and blocked attempts to give Kennedy sobriety tests. “The officers just want to be able to do their jobs,” Cannon said.
Leaving his Capitol Hill office last night, Kennedy told reporters: “I asked for no special treatment.” >>>
Sometimes, Congressman, you don't have to ask. Some things just seem to get done for you. Drudge has more details on how Kennedy was protected.
<<< Baird wrote that Capitol Police Patrol Division units, who are trained in driving under the influence cases, were not allowed to perform basic field sobriety tests on the Congressman. Instead, two sergeants, who also responded to the accident, proceeded to confer with the Capitol Police watch commander on duty and then “ordered all of the Patrol Division Units to leave the scene and that they were taking over.”
A source tells the DRUDGE REPORT: "It was apparent that the driver was intoxicated (stumbling) and claimed he was in a hurry to make a vote.
"When it became apparent who it was, instead of processing a normal DWI, the watch commander had the Patrol units clear the scene. The commander allowed other building officials drive Kennedy home."
This morning's incident comes just over two weeks after Kennedy was involved in a car accident in Rhode Island. >>>
What do you bet that the only ones to suffer from this are the Capitol Police who clearly violated standard procedure to protect a Kennedy?
And the District of Columbia has a law against driving while impaired including the effect of drugs. The real scandal is that the police weren't allowed to do their jobs because there seems to be one set of laws for everyone else and one for a Kennedy.
Michelle Malkin has more links and a look at the police report.
all supporting links found here
betsyspage.blogspot.com |
