Anterograde amnesia with oral lorazepam

Twelve healthy volunteers were enrolled in a double-blind placebo-controlled study to evaluate the amnestic effects of orally administered lorazepam. The subjects were tested for immediate and delayed recall, using a word recall memory task. The subjects taking lorazepam did not differ from subjects receiving placebo on immediate recall. However, the delayed recall scores of lorazepam subjects were significantly lower compared to the placebo group (p less than .01).