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Rape case involving Ambien-affected woman dismissed

Oct 30, 2007 | Associated Press | Post-Bulletin News

Ramsey County prosecutors have dropped charges in an alleged hospital sexual assault -- in part because of the sleep drug Ambien.

Craig Bjorklund, 29, of Anoka, Minn., was accused of raping a 35-year-old female patient in the psychiatric ward in Regions Hospital last December.

The patient told police she was in a haze after taking Ambien and recalled a sensation of being sexually assaulted, but she said she wasn't sure if it was real or a dream.

Phil Carruthers of the Ramsey County Attorney's office said the Ambien issue was "definitely an issue out there." But he said there were other issues, such as the fact that the woman's memory was hazy.

"We believe that something wrong happened, but that's not the same as saying we could prove it beyond a reasonable doubt," said Carruthers, director of the prosecution division of the county attorney's office.

Bjorklund was charged in April with having sex while knowing, or having reason to know, that the other person was mentally incapacitated or physically helpless.

The alleged assault happened in a bathroom on the co-ed ward. DNA testing tied Bjorklund to fluid found on the woman's underwear.

Bjorklund's attorney, Mark Kelly, said his client admitted having sex with the woman but believed it was consensual. Kelly said Ambien was key to the defense.

Kelly said he hired sleep expert Dr. Michel Cramer-Bornemann, co-director of the Minnesota Regional Sleep Disorders Center at Hennepin County Medical Center, to assist the defense.

He said Ambien has been associated with unusual side effects, including cases where people did things that they would not normally do. Cramer-Bornemann said they may eat, drive a car or have sex with no memory of the events.

And, he said, the effects of the drug might not be apparent to other people. That could make proving that Bjorklund knew or had reason to know the woman was mentally incapacitated difficult.

"If you're at a bar and you see a person passed out, you know that they've been drinking," Cramer-Bornemann said. "All these visual cues are there to tell you ... 'I cannot be involved with that individual.'

"In this particular case, Craig came across this woman and did not necessarily have all the visual cues that this was a vulnerable woman with whom he should not have any type of significant interaction."

In March, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration requested that the makers of 13 sleep drugs, including Ambien, put warnings on their labels about rare but serious side effects, including sleep-driving, making phone calls, fixing and eating food, and having sex while still asleep.

Ambien's maker, Sanofi-Aventis, has done so. Company spokeswoman Emmy Tsui, said, "When taken as directed, Ambien and Ambien CR are safe and effective treatments for insomnia."