Juana Amaral Dias is at war in court against her stepmother
Susana Quintas is suspected of administering benzodiazepines in abnormal amounts to the father of the former lawmaker and commentator.
Vanessa Fidalgo 01:30
Joana Amaral Dias’s father, a well-known psychoanalyst and professor, died in 2019 after feeling unwell at his home in Lisbon and not receiving immediate specialist help. He died hours later in the ambulance from a heart attack.
But the facts that the court is ruling now are precedent-setting and occurred between 2017 and 2018. According to the process decided by the court poison During this period, the psychoanalyst suffered several hospitalizations. In the last case, he was admitted to the emergency room of the Dos Cabochos Hospital “practically in a comatose state,” according to a source linked to the operation, and a toxicological analysis was performed, revealing an abnormally high level of benzodiazepines in the body. His blood. The poisoning was likely caused by taking “four times the normal amount of alprazolam”, an anxiolytic intended to treat anxiety disorders, mixed with Rivotril (used to treat epileptic seizures and convulsions). The same source says: “Now, the professor suffers from respiratory, heart and kidney problems, and these medications could make his condition worse or even cause serious and untreatable respiratory depression.” In 2018, the incident was investigated by the Public Ministry, which brought charges against the psychoanalyst’s widow, one of the few people in the house who had obtained the drugs. The next court session is scheduled for Wednesday. Three doctors will be interviewed.
Controversy rages on and off the Internet
Master in Psychology, but also an influencer, writer and “political activist” – as she likes to call herself – she was a professor at the Higher Institute of Applied Psychology, deputy of the Bloco de Esquerda (between 2002 and 2005) and she is known. Because of her offensive comments on television and social media. A study by the Catholic University (2015) placed her as the ninth most influential politician on Twitter, but there is no shortage of controversy in Joana Amaral Días’s resume. This week, a statement about the election of a transgender woman as Miss Portugal (“It will never be a woman, but never”) set the networks on fire, but it is not the only case: she has already been criticized for her invasive academic practices (and unauthorized filming of minors), Or traveling during quarantine, or having a direct argument about an abortion, or requesting a complaint letter at a bakery where they wouldn’t let her pay in cash.
The first complaint is against strangers
In 2018, when faced with information that their father’s tests showed an abnormally high level of benzodiazepines in his blood, the psychoanalyst’s three eldest children, Joana, Henrique and Leonor Amaral Dias, filed a complaint against the strangers. Susana Quintas did too. Only later did the MP charge her.investigation
Carlos Amaral Dias admitted before the Public Prosecution that he had taken the medicine, but in smaller doses. The PJ concluded that only a few people had access to the drug (only the woman, the youngest daughter, and the employee) and that “it was Susana Quintas’ psychiatrist who gave her between eight and ten prescriptions” for Alprazolam, the same source says.
Silence
Juana Amaral Dias is the only assistant in this process. Until the print edition of the newspaper closed, the psychiatrist did not answer the phone or respond to letters from the newspaper poison.Disagreement
When Carlos died Amaral Dias was incompatible with his daughter, Joana, allegedly because of her erotic photographic production which the psychoanalyst saw as a means of “getting access” to him.A prescription
The defense heard from the doctor who prescribed the medication. He explained that the teacher has had difficulty resting since he lost his mother a short time ago.repetition
The alprazolam incident was not an isolated case. In 2005, the defendant allegedly administered another medication to the psychoanalyst without his consent.
Medicine
Benzodiazepines are a class of psychotropic substances that reduce the activity of neurotransmitters in the brain and are used to treat anxiety disorders.a surprise
According to TV 7 Dias magazine, which spoke to Susana Quintas’ sister, she was “surprised” when she learned of the constitution as an accused in the case. Carlos Amaral Dias’s widow will feel “wronged.”Offspring
The psychoanalyst and university professor married Susana Quintas for the second time, in 1999, at the civil registry office in Lisbon. The couple had a daughter, Carlota Amaral Dias.
INEM admitted failing to assist Carlos Amaral Dias
After her father’s death, Juana Amaral Dias felt very angry about the delay in help for her. Carlos Amaral Dias felt the first symptoms of a heart attack at home and called an ambulance, but he did not receive care until a few hours later. The case was investigated for three years and it was proven in court that the psychoanalyst was trapped in a damaged ambulance, without a defibrillator and with a crew member without proper training. INEM admitted the failure and initiated disciplinary proceedings against workers involved in the rescue operation.
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