Ketamine Seems to Ease Depression. We’ll Soon See What Else It Does.
Side effects and long-term consequences often appear only when a new treatment goes to the mass market, as this drug is about to.
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Photographer: Brent Lewin/Bloomberg
Clinical trials are not enough to prove any drug is safe and effective – especially one that could be as widely used as Johnson & Johnson’s depression drug esketamine, a slightly altered form of the street drug ketamine. The FDA approval process is a balancing act, weighing safety and efficacy testing against the need to get potentially life-saving drugs out as soon as possible.
An advisory panel to the FDA decided this month that the benefits outweigh the risks, and approval is expected soon. But scientists who study depression say there’s a lot more to learn about esketamine’s long-term effects.