Spravato: The controversial ketamine-like drug that Trump is pushing on veterans

[Eugene]

Source: Center for Public Integrity and the Guardian

The controversial ketamine-like drug that Trump is pushing on veterans

The president has touted the drug’s benefits and offered to help a senior Veterans Affairs official negotiate the purchase of the drug

Peter Cary of the Center for Public Integrity
Tue 18 Jun 2019 07.00 BST Last modified on Tue 18 Jun 2019 12.59 BST

Personal interest from Donald Trump appears to have put a controversial anti-depressant on a fast track at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) that shoved aside usual protocols, even though experts inside and outside the government have serious concerns the drug is effective and say it may be dangerous.

Sources inside the Department of Veterans Affairs say staffers were essentially told by a senior official to drop everything in March and accelerate the drug’s availability because the president had expressed enthusiasm for the drug, Spravato, as a possible treatment for depressed veterans.

Questions have also been raised about a trio of Trump friends who have been working on veterans issues and interacting with Johnson & Johnson regarding programs for troubled vets.

In the midst of a rapidly convened series of VA meetings early that month, another official said the president wanted the VA to buy “truckloads” of the drug, according to sources. Trump also touted the drug’s benefits to the veterans affairs secretary, Robert Wilkie, in a White House meeting just last week, offering to help negotiate the VA’s purchase of the drug, according to Bloomberg.

A key VA panel, the so-called formulary committee, is meeting this week to decide if Spravato, whose formal name is esketamine, will be added to the list of drugs that must be available to VA pharmacies. A vote is expected on Wednesday, though a final decision may take longer. Esketamine is a derivative of ketamine, which has been used to treat depression, and has been abused as a party drug.

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Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/jun/17/spravato-ketamine-like-drug-that-experts-doubt-and-trump-is-pushing-on-veterans

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See also: Trump's raves put drug for vets on fast track, but experts aren’t sure it work (Center for Public Integrity)


The anti-depressant drug Spravato is delivered via a nasal inhaler. The drug can produce serious side effects, such as disconnection from surroundings, sedation, dizziness, and high blood pressure, and patients must stay in their doctor’s office for two hours after treatment. (Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson)

[sop]

1. This "trio of Trump friends," the Mar-a-Lago scum he put in charge of the VA, will now cash in

[TreasonousBastard]

2. He's offering to help negotiate? The VA has been negotiating drug prices for years...

I imagine the negotiating team is torn between hysterical laughter and trembling fear.

[Aristus]

3. Jesus! If ever any action screamed 'kickbacks', this is it.

I'm now going to be on the lookout for any patient coming in demanding Spravato.

I'm sure I'll have to deal with the usual howls of "YOU JUST WANT ME TO SUFFER!"

[Tech]

4. From what I have read, very expensive. Looks like someone hopes to cash in.

[dvan]

5. Posted this earlier in n another thread...

A friend of mine told me he wants to start administering this for $500 per session, no insurance. (Same friend miraculously kept his medical license after getting caught using drugs on the job).

[Haggis for Breakfast]

6. The LAST thing the veterans of this nation need

is cadet Bonespurs McChickenshit deciding which medications get fast tracked and by pass the established protocols and clinical trials.

Hopefully, the committee ignores his interference and conducts the very serious business of sound medical evaluation in a lawful manner.