Mind-altering ketamine becomes new pain treatment, despite little research or regulation

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The decades-old surgical drug ketamine has found a new use — as an alternative to opioids for patients with chronic pain.

Lowest price on the web! This all-in-one PDF app is $70 for lifeDr. Padma Gulur, a Duke University pain specialist, stands for a portrait on Friday, Oct. 27, 2023, in Durham, N.C. Prescriptions for ketamine have soared in recent years as doctors adopt the mind-altering drug as an alternative pain treatment. Gulur and other specialists see potential for ketamine as a pain therapy, but warn it also carries risks of safety and abuse.

Daniel Bass, of Southgate, Kentucky, found the visual disturbances “horrifying.” His doctors prescribed four- to six-hour IV infusions of ketamine for pain related to a rare bone and joint disorder. Seated in a bare hospital room with no stimulation or guidance on the drug's psychological effects, Bass says he felt"like a lab rat.”

“We want patients to disassociate or feel separate from their pain, depression or anxiety,” said Dr. David Mahjoubi, owner of Ketamine Healing Clinic in Los Angeles. “If they feel like they’re just sitting in the chair the whole time, we actually give them more.” Sending ketamine through the mail has become its own profitable business for telehealth services, such as MindBloom, which jumped into the space after regulators relaxed online prescribing rules during COVID-19.“The literature for the nasal and oral formulations is pretty scant,” said Dr. Eric Schwenk of Thomas Jefferson University. “There’s just not a lot of good evidence to guide you.”

A blog post from one, Ketamine Startup, lists “Five reasons you should open a ketamine clinic,” including: “You want to be your own boss” and “You want to take control of your money-making ability.”

 

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