Reconsidering the Risks and Benefits of Prescribing Ketamine for Pain and Mental Health Problems
A huge increase in off-label prescriptions for ketamine at for-profit telehealth and unsupervised clinics could stimulate recreational use of injectible drugs. We don't know the long term effects.
Ketamine is in the news after the tragic death of the sitcom Friends star Matthew Perry, who was known to be struggling with addiction and to be in treatment for mental health problems with ketamine. The coroner’s report that Perry died by acute intoxication set off speculation on social media as to whether his death was related to his treatment or his misuse of ketamine outside of treatment.
Much of the initial discussion on social media suffered from a lack of information, such as the undisclosed details of the autopsy report. Commentators weighed with views that were predictable from their general (pro- or anti-psychiatry) opinions about the safety and effectiveness of drug treatment for mental health problems.
The online conversation ignored how little is known about the long-term effects of ketamine, especially outside of the carefully controlled clinical context in which the drug was originally developed, evaluated, and approved.
There was little attention to the regulatory lo…