Sex differences are also clearly important in pharmacologic treatment, yet females are not well represented in clinical trials. In fact, between 1997 and 2001, the majority of prescription drugs removed from the market (8/10) showed greater adverse effects in females. 133 A salient example of this is a recommendation from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that the dosage of the sedative zolpidem be halved in women. 134 This recommendation followed anecdotal evidence of impaired driving the morning after taking zolpidem among women. 135 The ultimate decision was based on clinical trial data, as well as driving simulation studies. 136 In this instance, it is assumed that women and men metabolize this compound differently, and this should have been established in earlier work.
