Ambien may be to blame for Kerry Kennedy's accident

UNDATED (NBC) -- There are reports that Kerry Kennedy may have taken a sleep drug and had a seizure before her crash.

Investigators said after the crash Kerry Kennedy spoke of taking Ambien, a strong prescription drug.

The sleep aid even carries a warning to not drive after taking it as well as the possibility of a side effect where users engage in activities like driving without being fully awake.

“It looks like they’re drunk but they’re not. It’s Ambien affecting a certain percentages of people in this way, which I term, “ambien zombies.” People drive without absolutely any memory of doing it,” said attorney Susan Chana Lask who pressed for clearer Ambien side effects labeling.

One source close to Kennedy said her doctor is now looking into whether the mother of three had a seizure and if that could be the cause of the accident.

Her spokesman has said preliminary hospital tests showed no drugs or alcohol whatsoever in her system.

Law enforcement officials say detailed blood tests are still out and may show whether or not a drug like Ambien was in her system.

It was Friday, when police found Kennedy seemingly passed out behind the wheel of her white Lexus near a highway exit ramp.

They say she had side-swiped a truck. Other motorists called 911 about the swerving car.

Two sources close to Kennedy say she has no recollection of the crash.

They say she was only speculating when she told police that maybe she mistakenly took an Ambien instead of a different pill that morning.

“Mr. Kenney were you drinking earlier in the evening?”

In 2006, her cousin and former Congressman Patrick Kennedy crashed his car into a security barricade near the U.S. capitol in the middle of the night.

He blamed his disorientation on Ambien and another drug he'd been prescribed.

He pleaded guilty to driving under the influence of prescription drugs.

Kerry Kennedy is also the ex-wife of New York governor Andrew Cuomo.

She was devastated just weeks ago when Mary Richardson Kennedy, her ex-sister-in-law, killed herself in her Bedford, New York home.

“Mary was my best friend, and the best friend anyone could ever imagine having,” Kerry Kennedy said.

A family spokesman said Kerry Kennedy voluntarily took a breathalyzer test and that no alcohol was found in her system, but that an official toxicology report is still pending. Kennedy is due in court tomorrow.