Report: Woman had Ambien in system during car crashes

A Conway woman who claimed a pharmacy mix-up led to a series of car crashes at an around a local Sonic drive-in restaurant on May 30 was under the influence of Ambien, a State Crime Lab toxicology report shows.

Jennifer Starkey-Spaeth, 32, claims that a local pharmacy inadvertently filled a prescription for the drug Tramadol, a painkiller she says was prescribed to her for migraines, with Ambien, a prescription sleep aid, on the morning of May 30.

She took her usual dose of what she thought was Tramadol, she said, as she drove from Vilonia to Conway. The next thing she claims to remember that day was being released from Conway Regional Medical Center and charged with reckless driving and DWI-drugs.

Starkey-Spaeth is scheduled to appear before Judge Russell "Jack" Roberts at Conway District Court at 1 p.m. Thursday to face the reckless driving and DWI charges. She has hired Little Rock attorney Andy Ballard to represent her. Ballard could not be reached for comment as of presstime Thursday.

Police arrested Starkey-Spaeth, 32, after she was found to be intoxicated and responsible for a multi-vehicle crash at the Oak Street Sonic restaurant. Seven vehicles, including her own 2001 Saturn, were damaged. No one, including her son who was in the vehicle during the incident, was hurt.

Police found Starkey-Spaeth unresponsive to questioning and recorded that she fell asleep numerous times during the arrest process and as a blood sample was being taken at Conway Regional Medical Center.

Starkey-Spaeth's employer, Janet Bainter, again said that a pharmacy had called the woman's place of business on the morning of May 30 to contact her and claims the pharmacy "admitted that they had messed up her prescription" during one of the phone calls.

The blood sample taken on the day of Starkey-Spaeth's arrest was processed and the findings were released Aug. 25.

The woman's blood contained Tramadol, Zolpidem (the active ingredient in Ambien) and Hydrocodone in concentrations of .32, .27 and .02 micrograms per milliliter, respectively.

The concentrations of Tramadol and Hydrocodone, State Crime Lab forensic toxicologist Don Riddle said, were within the "therapeutic range," meaning that the drugs, at these concentrations, were "doing what they were supposed to do" and would not seem to immediately indicate the use of an amount greater than what could reasonably be prescribed.

The Zolpidem, however, was found in a greater concentration than could be considered a prescribed dose, Riddle said, though he cautioned that the drug is intended to be used by a person planning to immediately prepare for sleep, meaning that the definition of "an excessive amount" for a person engaged in the act of driving may not be excessive if the drug is used as directed. He also added that blood concentrations of any drug tend to rise sharply after ingestion and "taper off" as the body breaks down the drug and diminishes its effects, so a blood sample collected at a single point in time would represent a "snapshot" of a drug concentration that, by its nature, would be constantly rising or falling.

Tramadol is known to interact with prescription sleep aids, according to the Food and Drug Administration's Web site.

Starkey-Spaeth said the Hydrocodone noted in the toxicology report had been administered during an emergency room visit for a back injury "a couple days" before the incident.

(Staff writer Joe Lamb can be reached by e-mail at joe.lamb@thecabin.net or by phone at 505-1238. Send us your news at www.thecabin.net/submit)