Ambien Helpfully Reminds Roseanne Barr That Side Effects Don't Include Racism

The curious case of Big Pharma vs. Roseanne Barr may have already reached its breaking point. Sanofi, a pharmaceutical company that manufacturers the well-known sleep aid Ambien, is defending itself after the Roseanne star and comedienne tweeted that the drug spurred her to write racist musings about former Barack Obama adviser Valerie Jarrett.

If you're slightly out of the loop, this is what happened yesterday: Barr wrote an extremely racist and derogatory comment about Jarret on Twitter, a comment that she actually apologized for a few hours later. (A rare feat for Barr, truly.) However, that didn't appease ABC, the network home of Roseanne, and the show was promptly cancelled after the network's president deemed the tweet "abhorrent, repugnant and inconsistent with our values."

Following this drama, Barr blamed Ambien as being a major contributing factor for her racist comments. "It was 2 in the morning and I was ambien tweeting — it was memorial day too — I went 2 far & do not want it defended," she wrote in a now-deleted tweet, which has been screenshotted by multiple news outlets, early Wednesday morning. “Yes, I have had odd ambien experiences on tweeting late at night - like many other ppl do. I BLAME MYSELF OK? it’s just an explanation not an excuse, Ok, bully?” Barr later issued a more sincere and formal statement of apology, saying how much she "deeply" regrets her comments. "Today my words caused hundreds of hardworking people to lose their jobs," she said. "I apologize from the bottom of my heart and hope you can find it in your hearts to forgive me."

Now, the latest party to weigh in on Twitter is the company that produces Ambien. The company responded to Barr's suggestion that the drug prompted her racist comments with a Twitter clap-back of its own. "People of all races, religions and nationalities work at Sanofi every day to improve the lives of people around the world," the company tweeted on Wednesday. "While all pharmaceutical treatments have side effects, racism is not a known side effect of any Sanofi medication."

It's important to note that Ambien, or as it's known generically, zolpidem, has been reported to cause some bizarre side effects; National Institutes of Health website MedlinePlus warns that "some people who took zolpidem got out of bed and drove their cars, prepared and ate food, had sex, made phone calls, were sleep-walking, or were involved in other activities while not fully awake. After they woke up, these people were usually unable to remember what they had done," and that " behavior and mental health may change in unexpected ways while you are taking this medication." The FDA has also issued a recommendation to lower bedtime doses of the drug based on research indicating that "blood levels in some patients may be high enough the morning after use to impair activities that require alertness, including driving."

Still, it doesn't take a genius to tell you those side effects never include racism or bigotry.