It would be the philosopher's stone: a pill that would bring us blissful sleep without having to worry about the side effects. We know the worst: addiction. More than a million Germans are addicted to sleeping pills and tranquilizers. In order to get their stuff, quite a few even forge recipes. Lists are circulating on the internet of the lowest rated doctors willing to prescribe almost anything for a five star rating.

Since mid-November, however, sleep-stricken people have been able to get a prescription for a drug that, according to studies, does not cause addiction. Is a new era dawning for sleep medicine?

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