New research raises doubts about ketamine’s role in chronic pain treatment–and its safety.
Ketamine prescriptions for chronic pain have skyrocketed more than 500 percent in just five years, but a major new scientific review finds no solid evidence the drug actually works for long-term pain relief—and warns it may cause serious side effects, including delusions and paranoia.
“We would encourage clinicians to have frank discussions with their patients about the uncertain benefits and potential for distressing side effects,” Michael Ferraro, the review’s first author and doctoral candidate at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) and Neuroscience Research Australia (NeuRA), told The Epoch Times.
