Sao Paulo
Fans of singer Taylor Swift who attended the shows in Rio de Janeiro complain that the medical team distributed medications such as Rivotril (clonazepan) to those who fainted, felt nervous and between the 17th and 20th of last week even felt uncomfortable.
The medicine is a blacklabel benzodiazepine and is used for panic attacks and to help you fall asleep only with a doctor’s prescription. According to doctor Fernando Tallo, if you are dehydrated it can worsen the condition.
Influencer Bel Rodrigues, 29, says she was treated with Rivotril when the heat and thirst made her sick. Maria Eduarda Leite, 21, says she received the sedative diazepam (also a benzodiazepine) on Saturday (18) when she was afraid of the dragnet. Civil engineer Yan Corrêa, 30, says he slept for the last half of the show after being treated in the emergency room on Friday (17).
On the same day, 23yearold fan Ana Clara Benevides died after falling ill during the singer’s performance at Nilton Santos Stadium. She was taken to the Salgado Filho Municipal Hospital in Méier, but suffered a cardiac arrest and was unable to resist.
The company Vida UTI, which normally supplies the Nilton Santos Stadium (Engenhão) and operated at the shows, says it does not use clonazepam (active ingredient in Rivotril), but does not deny the use of benzodiazepine sedatives such as diazepam.
“Considering that more than 1,800 patients were treated, the use of controlled medications did not exceed 1% of consultations,” wrote medical directors Agnelo Quintela and Rogerio Casemiro in an email message.
When asked directly about the chances of Rivotril being a sublingual drug administered to the public, they replied that it was not.
“I said they dislocated my shoulder, I fainted and was nervous. They took a Rivotril and said, ‘Open your mouth and lift your tongue,'” says Yan Corrêa. The engineer came to the fair at 9 a.m. on the 17th and immediately felt bad when he arrived on the premium route. He held out until singer Taylor Swift asked her to hand out water to fans.
With the movement of the public feeling sick, Yan injured his shoulder. Soon after, he fainted. According to him, in addition to Rivotril, he received two injections. After being released, he slept next to the stage bar for the remainder of the show.
Doctor Fernando Tallo, president of the Brazilian Association of Emergency and Emergency Medicine, explains that it is not common practice to give Rivotril to patients attending events such as concerts. “We always try to avoid these types of medications. Especially giving medication to someone who might have electrolyte changes due to sweating,” he says.
Aside from the risk of dehydration interfering with taking the medication, the doctor questions whether it is safe to induce sleep in someone who is in a crowd.
However, Tallo says that giving a benzodiazepine for extreme anxiety is not unreasonable if a physical examination, check of vital signs, heart rate, blood rate and questions about health status have been performed beforehand. According to him, Rivotril is metabolized within a few hours and there are no side effects after that.
“I never seemed nervous,” says Bel Rodrigues Sheet. The influencer reports that she felt unwell due to the heat, had low blood pressure and was treated normally during her first visit to the clinic. However, on Monday, she visited the location to cool off in the air conditioning and was persuaded to take the medication.
Bel says she asked to stay in a corner of the clinic to cool down, but when the room began to fill up, the medical professional declined and recommended the medication. “She said, ‘I’ll give you five drops of clonazepam and it will calm you down.’ I know what clonazepam is, I’ve already taken it, so I knew there wouldn’t be any side effects.” But she didn’t ask about any of it.
Patients who report receiving the sedative report that they were not asked about allergies, drug interactions, and possible barriers to taking the drug.
On the 18th, 20yearold Joana Leite from São Paulo had an anxiety attack when she learned that the show had been postponed. In the ambulance she said that the doctors wanted to give her Rivotril. She was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. She refused to take the medication because it was not one she was used to and because she was also concerned about interactions with three other controlled medications she was taking.
On the same day, 21yearold Maria Eduarda Leite from Recife panicked when she found herself in the middle of a suspected trawler after feeling unwell due to the heat. On his second visit to the clinic, he said he was given diazepam.
“I wanted a copy of my emergency medical record because I thought I needed to go to the hospital, but they refused. They said it was an emergency room and nothing was registered,” says Leite.
According to the company responsible for the care, Vida UTI, prescribing medications in prehospital care (APH) is a medical prerogative that is “decisionmaking.”
“Physician behavior is based on the interview, vital signs and clinical assessment observing the patient’s signs and symptoms. “After all this information, the doctor draws up a therapy plan, which may consist of medications, including psychoactive substances, “enshrined in the list of medical laws, supported by the Federal Council and the state medical associations,” writes the medical association.
In a previous report by SheetMariana Marcarini, 23, from São Paulo, said she received the medication after her blood pressure was checked. “They took my blood pressure and gave me a sublingual medication (“Clonazepam,” the girl who helped me told me) and another antinausea medication,” he said.
Rio student Lavínia Mendes, 21, said she suspected she had received the same drug. She went to the clinic with low blood pressure before the opening show began.
“The doctor, who already had a medicine packet in her hand, pricked one of the medicines, put it under my tongue and said: ‘Leave it under your tongue, wait for it to dissolve’. And that was it. That wasn’t me.” “I kept myself informed at all times about what the medication was. I was very weak, so I didn’t question it,” says Lavinia.
“During the show I couldn’t enjoy it. I felt like if I screamed, if I jumped, I would fall at any moment.”
The producer Time for Fun, responsible for Taylor Swift’s shows in Brazil, says it works with partners for medical care and does not have access to records of the care provided at its events. “The company, its partners and suppliers strictly adhere to all protocols established by health authorities,” it said in a statement.