Dissociative drugs

A patient sits in their home with ketamine tablets, provided through the company Mindbloom.Photo: ED JONES/AFP (Getty Images)Around 2.8 million Americans suffer from treatment-resistant depression, and though research has shown that IV ketamine can significantly improve their quality of life, these ketamine treatments are expensive, and access to them is limited. Early in the covid-19 pandemic, the Drug Enforcement Agency loosened restrictions on remote prescribing for Schedule III medications like ketamine. In response,…

Photo: ShutterstockIn a new paper this month, doctors describe how a 32-year-old man’s habit of inhaling nitrous oxide via “whippits” left him partially paralyzed. Following treatment and the end of his nitrous oxide use, the man did eventually regain the function of his legs. But the medical tale is perhaps a timely reminder of why states like New York have recently decided to ban the sale of industrial-strength whipped cream chargers that contain the gas to teens.The case study was published last week in the New England…