Kennedy to seek treatment for prescription addiction

Rep. Patrick Kennedy said Friday he was entering treatment for addiction to prescription pain drugs after a middle-of-the-night car crash near the U.S. Capitol that he said he had no memory of. "That's not how I want to live my life," he declared.

Kennedy, D-R.I., the son of Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., said he would seek immediate treatment at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn.

For Kennedy, who said he has suffered from depression and pain-medication addiction for years, the trip to the Mayo Clinic was his second in less than five months. He went there over Christmas and said he returned to Congress "reinvigorated and healthy."

Kennedy said he realized he needed to seek treatment again after he crashed his car Thursday. Capitol police cited him with three traffic violations and said Friday their investigation was continuing.