Prescription drugs like lorazepam — used to treat anxiety, panic attacks and sleep disorders — play a role in popular TV shows like ‘The White Lotus’ and ‘The Pitt.’
Victoria Ratliff, the wealthy financier’s wife on season 3 of HBO’s “The White Lotus,” has a problem: She keeps popping pills.
And her drug of choice, the anti-anxiety medication lorazepam, has left her a little loopy.
In the show, which follows guests vacationing at a fictional resort, Victoria pairs her medication with wine, which leads her to nod off at the dinner table. Sometimes she slurs her words.
When she notices that her pill supply is mysteriously dwindling, she asks her children if they’re stealing them.
“You don’t have enough lorazepam to get through one week at a wellness spa?” her daughter, Piper, asks.
“The White Lotus” is not the only show to recently feature these drugs. The new Max series “The Pitt,” which takes place in an emergency department, includes a story line about a benzodiazepine called Librium.
This isn’t a case of Hollywood taking dramatic liberties. Benzodiazepines such as lorzepam and chlordiazepoxide are notorious for having the potential to be highly addictive. They may also come with difficult — sometimes fatal — withdrawal symptoms.