My husband has taken Trazodone, which made him very groggy during the day. He's now on Neurontin, which curbs the daytime sleepiness. Neurontin is normally prescribed as an anti-seizure medication but can be used to treat insomnia, just like Trazodone is an antidepressant that can treat insomnia. The bigger names Lunesta and Ambien didn't work very well for him. Lunesta only worked for half the night and left a horrible aftertaste. Ambien and Ambien CR were okay but are not recommended for long-time use. I personally find Ambien CR to be most effective for me, but I often suffer from rebound insomnia, a common side effect.

I didn't read the New York Times article, but, in my opinion, use whatever works best in giving you a good night's sleep in conjunction with what you can afford and what your doctor recommends. Of course the larger pharmaceutical companies will claim a generic medication (or another prescription med for that matter) is ineffective/no good/etc. because they want you and your insurance company to buy more of their medications. Don't forget that pharmaceutical companies ultimately want to make money like any other business.