CONGRESS Rep. Kennedy says he's entering rehab

The congressman said he doesn't remember crashing his car Thursday morning.
PROVIDENCE JOURNAL
WASHINGTON -- Rep. Patrick J. Kennedy announced plans Friday to enter a rehab clinic in Minnesota to treat an addiction to prescription drugs, a day after he crashed his car in an incident he says he does not remember.
The Rhode Island Democrat said he was under the influence of two separate prescription drugs that had been recently prescribed when he hit a traffic barrier at 2:45 a.m. two blocks from the Capitol building.
In a brief 3 p.m. press conference televised live, the 38-year-old Kennedy said he does not remember getting out of bed, driving to the Capitol, crashing his green convertible Mustang, or being driven home by police.
"I am deeply concerned about ... my lack of knowledge of the accident that evening," Kennedy said in the press conference, his voice shaking. "That's not how I want to live my life and not how I want to represent the people of Rhode Island."
Kennedy also acknowledged he entered the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota around Christmas to treat an addiction to prescription drugs.
"In every recovery, each day has ups and downs," he said. He has admitted only to taking the prescribed doses of Phenergan to treat a stomach ailment and Ambien to treat insomnia.
Kennedy said he was returning to the Mayo Clinic on Friday afternoon.
Police report
While Kennedy said he doesn't remember the incidents of Thursday morning, a police report obtained Friday details that he was "driving at a high rate of speed in a construction zone, and also swerving into the wrong lane of travel. ... Furthermore, the vehicle had no lights running, and swerved again striking the north curb."
Kennedy was cited with three separate violations: failure to give full time and attention, failure to keep in proper lane and unreasonable speed.
The congressman's "eyes were red and watery, speech was slightly slurred, and upon exiting his vehicle, his balance was unsure," reads the report.
At his press conference, Kennedy said he had returned home after participating in a series of congressional votes Wednesday night and taken two separate medications: Phenergan, for gastroenteritis, and Ambien, to help him sleep.
A letter from the attending physician for members of Congress, obtained by The Journal, confirmed that Kennedy was prescribed the drugs, both of which can cause drowsiness.
"You were prescribed Phenergan to help treat your symptoms. The side effects of Phenergan include drowsiness and sedation," the physician, John Eisold, wrote to Kennedy. "Also, review of your medical record shows that you were prescribed Ambien on April 25, 2006, to assist with insomnia."
Preferential treatment alleged
In what one police official is calling preferential treatment, Kennedy was not given a field sobriety test after the accident. Instead, he was driven home by Capitol Police.
The handling of the accident prompted an immediate complaint of preferential treatment for the congressman from a union official with the U.S. Capitol police, who also alleged that officers on the scene said Kennedy displayed signs of intoxication.