esketamine | CARLAT PUBLISHING

Pilot Study of Ketamine vs ECT for Major Depression

September 10, 2021

Michael Posternak, MD. Dr. Posternak has disclosed no relevant financial or other interests in any commercial companies pertaining to this educational activity.

The first head-to-head comparison reveals a subtle difference between these two therapies

Intranasal Esketamine: New Hope for Suicidal Patients?

April 12, 2021

Victoria Hendrick, MD. and Daniel Carlat, MD

Victoria Hendrick, MD.

Editor in Chief, The Carlat Hospital Psychiatry Report. Chief, Inpatient Psychiatry, Olive View UCLA Medical Center.

Daniel Carlat, MD. Publisher, The Carlat Hospital Psychiatry Report. Dr. Hendrick and Dr. Carlat have disclosed no relevant financial or other interests in any commercial companies pertaining to this educational activity.

Imagine a drug that resolves depression within hours in people at imminent risk of suicide. Esketamine may be such a drug — but is it a miracle cure? Here we look at the data and discuss the pros and cons of this new treatment.

Tips on the Doubts about Ketamine/Esketamine

August 19, 2020

Ketamine and esketamine have been shown to provide rapid relief of suicidality, however, many lingering doubts have been raised about these medicines. In a previous article from The Carlat Psychiatry Report, Nolan Williams, M.D., discusses the potential negative consequences of ketamine/esketamine treatment. Here are some of Dr. Williams’s tips:It might...

How Effective is Esketamine [60 Sec Psych]

May 16, 2020

It's been a year since esketamine's (Spravato) debut for treatment resistant depression, and the numbers are in: to treat and to harm. A review of Citrome L, DiBernardo A, Singh J. 144 Esketamine Nasal Spray for Management of Treatment-Resistant Depression: Number Needed to Treat, Number Needed to Harm, Likelihood to...

Psilocybin, Ketamine, and the Spiritual Brain

February 4, 2020

A new antidepressant is under development that could change the field even more than esketamine. And even if it doesn't, its novel effects on the mind reveals something that can help our patients today. This fascinating drug was commonly prescribed by psychiatrists in the 1950's until Richard Nixon tried to...

Getting Uncomfortable with Esketamine

January 13, 2020

Nolan Williams, MD

Nolan Williams, MD

Director of the Brain Stimulation Lab and Interventional Psychiatry Clinical Research Program; Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at Stanford University, CA. Dr. Williams has disclosed that he has no relevant financial or other interests in any commercial companies pertaining to this educational activity.

The FDA approval of esketamine (Spravalto) left some unanswered questions, including suicide, addiction, withdrawal, neurotoxicity, and bladder inflammation. Nolan Williams addresses those risks and looks at where esketamine fits among other options like TMS and ECT. Dr. Williams directs the Interventional Psychiatry Clinical Research Program and Brain Stimulation Lab at Stanford University.

The Secret History of Ketamine

July 8, 2019

In 1985 a Soviet psychiatrist began giving his patients ketamine in hopes to cure their alcoholism. The experiment backfired, but the results tell us something about how ketamine might treat depression. Long buried behind the Iron Curtain, this episode uncovers that early research and traces it back to modern PET-scans,...

Esketamine Gets FDA Approval

July 3, 2019

Michael Posternak, MD. Psychiatrist in private practice, Boston, MA. Dr. Posternak has disclosed that he has no relevant financial or other interests in any commercial companies pertaining to this educational activity.

On March 5, 2019, the FDA approved esketamine (Spravato) nasal spray as add-on therapy to traditional antidepressant medications for treatment-resistant depression (TRD). In this article, I will describe the events that led to esketamine’s development, review the data submitted to the FDA, and discuss what the future might hold for esketamine.

Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy (REMS) Programs

July 3, 2019

Certain psychiatric treatments require both the healthcare provider and patient to enroll in a Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy (REMS) program before they are administered. Here are links to enroll.