By Katherine Dillinger and Deidre McPhillips, CNN, September 12, 2022
People who got intravenous ketamine at three private ketamine infusion clinics had “significant improvement” in symptoms of depression, anxiety and suicidal ideation, a new study says.
The study, published Monday in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, adds to a growing body of research showing ketamine’s promise in treating these conditions.
It “gives some more real-world data, which is incredibly important” because it helps show its potential to work in a more general population, said Dr. Gerard Sanacora, a psychiatry professor at the Yale School of Medicine.
But the study leaves some critical gaps, including data on adverse effects and direct comparisons to other options, that make it difficult to conclude how it should be used, he said.
Ketamine is a powerful medication used in hospitals primarily as an anesthetic. It’s also used illegally as a club drug that creates an intense high and dissociative effects. Because it’s not approved to treat depression and thus is used for that purpose “off-label,” it is not covered by insurance, even when it’s recommended by a doctor.
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