Ketamine Clinics

Princeton,NJ/ 360prwire/ December 9/

Anesthesiologists and pain physicians operate most of the Ketamine clinic ketamine centers near me. Both of these groups possess experience with this medication and make natural low-dose Ketamine treatment clinicians. Despite this, anyone with a license to prescribe can write for intravenous or intranasal Ketamine. For instance, many psychiatrists are now entering the industry.

Ketamine clinical treatment centers focusing on mental health can offer a  collection of modalities such as transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), pharmacotherapy (psychiatric medication), and Ketamine Assistive Therapy (KAT). Now that esketamine, the nasal spray brand-named Spravato, is FDA approved and covered by insurance for treatment-resistant depression (TRD), it too is joining the clinical offerings.  

Where to get Ketamine

The number of Ketamine clinics in the United States is mushrooming – estimated at more than four hundred. Explosive growth necessitates regulation and standard operating procedures.

Ketamine therapy needs protocols including steps for screening patients for contraindicated conditions and substance abuse history, assessing candidacy per diagnosis, coordination with the patient’s external medical team, informed consent, dosage calculation, safety monitoring, and standardized procedures for minimizing adverse effects.  

Deploying a Ketamine registry could provide a larger swath of data to inform these efforts. A comprehensive data gathering effort with ketamine clinics may help make this a reality.

Esketamine

The “mirror molecule” of Ketamine, esketamine (brand name Spravato) was approved in 2019. IV infusions require significant infrastructure to administer. It’s believed that a nasal spray can make treatments more convenient and accessible in a wider variety of settings. 

While ketamine has a long track record of use as an anesthetic and pain reliever, esketamine lacks that history. Whether Ketamine is superior to esketamine therapeutically or safety-wise will unfold over time. For now, it presents an affordable treatment option for a desperate patient population.  

What is Esketamine nasal spray?

The high cost of ketamine is a barrier to many patients, some of whom are already financially disadvantaged due to their health problems. Health disparities may be perpetuated by this situation. However, once the FDA approved Spravato intranasal spray for cases of major depression not responding to standard treatment, hope emerged. FDA approval kicked off the march to insurance covering esketamine prescriptions. Copays remain but are dramatically less than the several hundred dollars attached to low dose IV Ketamine infusion therapy sessions. 

Is Ketamine legal?

Due to its classification as “experimental,” infusions of Ketamine are rarely covered by insurance. It is still legally prescribed, but applying it outside of anesthesia and pain, is considered “off label.” Off-label use simply means that a drug may assist with conditions not officially indicated by the FDA. Off-label prescriptions are written at the discretion of treating physicians. Further, in most cases, referrals to receive Ketamine treatment are not necessary – reducing the friction between need and care.  

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Adam Ali