
WASHINGTON — A Department of Veterans Affairs committee has declined to approve widespread coverage of a new depression treatment that has generated controversy but also received an express endorsement from President Trump. Instead, the drug was approved on a more limited basis.
Many experts have embraced the medication, which is known as esketamine and is being sold by Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) under the brand name Spravato, as a critical option for patients in dire need of new treatments — particularly because it might work faster than existing antidepressants.
What is it?
STAT+ is STAT's premium subscription service for in-depth biotech, pharma, policy, and life science coverage and analysis. Our award-winning team covers news on Wall Street, policy developments in Washington, early science breakthroughs and clinical trial results, and health care disruption in Silicon Valley and beyond.
What's included?
- Daily reporting and analysis
- The most comprehensive industry coverage from a powerhouse team of reporters
- Subscriber-only newsletters
- Daily newsletters to brief you on the most important industry news of the day
- STAT+ Conversations
- Weekly opportunities to engage with our reporters and leading industry experts in live video conversations
- Exclusive industry events
- Premium access to subscriber-only networking events around the country
- The best reporters in the industry
- The most trusted and well-connected newsroom in the health care industry
- And much more
- Exclusive interviews with industry leaders, profiles, and premium tools, like our CRISPR Trackr.
My neurologist offered esketamine infusion for my depression. I declined, although I knew it to be safe. Cannabidiol has been much better for my depression.
and then there’s the suspicious connection to the orange one’s Mar-a-Lago troika of VA ‘advisors’. More here: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/jun/17/spravato-ketamine-like-drug-that-experts-doubt-and-trump-is-pushing-on-veterans