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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsTrump Orders 'a Lot' of Ketamine for Depressed Veterans
Now he's a flippin' doctor? Follow the money because this is not being done/ordered due to the kindness in his heart. I don't think he has one.
Trump Orders a Lot of Ketamine for Depressed Veterans
The president told the VA to purchase a large amount of a controversial new nasal spray. The agency says it will consider incorporating the drug after it has more data.
James Hamblin
11:29 AM ET
President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that the government will purchase a lot of the drug esketamine, a derivative of ketamine.
Though ketamine is known as a recreational hallucinogen, Trump asserted that a new nasal-spray derivative would be of great benefit to veterans with depression. As he left the White House for a veterans conference in Kentucky, he told reporters that he had instructed the Department of Veterans Affairs to make a large purchaseoverriding a recent decision by the doctors who manage the hospitals formulary of which drugs are to be prescribed.
Theres a product thats made right now that just came out by Johnson & Johnson which has a tremendously positivepretty short term, but nevertheless positiveeffect, Trump said. But that statement is contrary to the evidence. A review by the Food and Drug Administration of what limited studies have been done with esketamine found mixed results, leaving many scientists unsure if the drug is indeed effective and safe. Just last week, the agency published a report that said the drug was not reliably better than placebo.
Rates of suicide among veterans have perennially been around 50 percent higher than those among people who were never in the military. Then, last year, the VA reported that rates increased 10 percent among younger veterans in particular. Despite pressure to better address and treat suicidal depression, the VAs medical advisory board voted in June against including esketamine in the list of drugs that the hospital system offers in its formulary. The VA declined to comment on its decision, but current guidelines, a VA spokesperson told me by email, allow for esketamines occasional use in veterans who have not previously responded to adequate trials of other available treatments for major depression.
snip//
This is a far cry from the promises the president made to veterans. Hopefully we are getting it at a very good cost, Trump said. I guess its a form of a stimulant where if somebody is really in trouble from the standpoint of suicide it can do something. The drug is, in fact, a sedative; ketamine has long been used as an anesthetic. And its daily cost is $737.50.
more...
https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2019/08/trump-ketamine/596716/
Historic NY
(37,449 posts)I knew someone who would steal it from the veterinarian and snort it, she disappeared one night and was found one a bridge over the Hudson River. Good thing she was lucid for a moment and her phone butt dialed.
babylonsister
(171,064 posts)angel dust, do you know? Wasn't that a horse tranquilizer?
912gdm
(959 posts)but yeah its a horse tranq. if you hear date-rape drugs, its possible K is a culprit
jmowreader
(50,557 posts)pbmus
(12,422 posts)Harker
(14,015 posts)worse than a placebo.
He must have a stake in it somehow.
Marie Marie
(9,999 posts)We know that he has a whole lot of things weighing on his little mind right now.
WhiteTara
(29,706 posts)gets a cut of the profits of $767 per patient per day.
Tanuki
(14,918 posts)."What you should know about date rape drugs
.......
Ketamine is an anesthetic that acts quickly to cause feelings of relaxation. Victims may lose consciousness or be confused and compliant. They might not remember what happened while under the influence of the drug.
Unlike most other date rape drugs, ketamine acts almost immediately. A victim may not have time to realize they have been drugged.
At high doses, ketamine can cause breathing problems that may be fatal.
Ketamine comes as a white powder that may change the taste of someone's drink. Consequently, perpetrators sometimes use it in strong-tasting alcoholic beverages that may disguise the drug's presence."....(more)
Initech
(100,068 posts)Do we give returning veterans dangerous hallucinogenics that aren't proven to treat depression? No! Trump admin: Yes!
Midnight Writer
(21,753 posts)Jeffersons Ghost
(15,235 posts)When I go to the VA, I see some bumper-stickers that endorse Trump. As a Vietnam Era Veteran, I find them appalling. But these misguided veterans can support whoever they want for president, according to the US Constitution.