Warning over sleeping pills 'risk' Sleeping pills commonly prescribed in the UK may increase the risk of death more than four-fold, according to new research. The higher the dose, the greater the risk of dying, while people on higher doses also had an increased risk of cancer, experts found. A wide range of drugs was analysed for the study of more than 10,500 people taking sleeping pills. They included drugs used in the UK, such as benzodiazepines (including temazepam and diazepam), non-benzodiazepines (including zolpidem, zopiclone and zaleplon), barbiturates and sedative antihistamines. However the findings have been questioned by some medical professionals, with Malcolm Lader from the Institute of Psychiatry at King's College London saying: "I agree that these drugs do have problems but I find some of these results quite difficult to accept. The main one is that with 18 doses a year you have three times the mortality - that's quite incredible because you would have people dropping like flies. He added: "The study needs to be replicated in a different sample and I think we need to hold judgment until we have further studies."