With the arrival of the coronavirus pandemic, the consumption of clonazepam increased considerably, especially the brand Rivotrilsince it is one of the most used medications to treat symptoms of stress and anxiety.
Consequently, given the high demand, the product which is one of the 100 most commercialized in the Argentine market, began to run out, mainly, the brand Rivotril It is no longer available in pharmacies.
It was even reported that the Rivotril“for a few months, delivery began to be discontinued in its different presentations and, in the last month, directly, the product disappeared from the web pages of drug stores“.
An employee of the Mamblona Pharmacy, in the city of La Plata, assured that “the problem is that there are many patients who have been taking this particular brand of clonazepam for many years and it is very difficult to convince them to change the brand, despite They are the same and even cheaper.
For his part, Harry Campos Cervera, psychiatrist, member of the Argentine Psychoanalytic Association (APA), in dialogue with La Nación, explained that “the Rivotril It is one of the drugs known as “anxiolytics Z” (benzodiazepines) that, both in Argentina and in the rest of the world, are extremely popular”.
The specialist also added: “This family of anxiolytics is the one with the highest addiction rate and yet it is the one that attracts the least attention. As they are very effective, people “nail a clone”, as they say, for anything”.
The consumption of this medicine It skyrocketed during the pandemic, since with the restrictions that were initially imposed, people began to have problems with anxiety, stress, panic attacks, among other alterations of the nervous system.
The Argentine Pharmaceutical Confederation warned about the high consumption of clonazepam
A report from the Argentine Pharmaceutical Confederation states that During the pandemic, the use of psychotropic drugs increased by 4.14%, in what refers to the year 2021.
The study reports that between 7% and 11% of Argentines consume some type of anxiolytic, but what worries specialists is that this type of medication has the highest addiction rate, so it should not be be taken for long periods.
