--- title: "FDA Approves Ketamine-Based Nasal Spray to Treat Depression" description: "The Food and Drug Administration has approved a prescription treatment for depression that's based on ketamine, marking a new use for an old anesthetic." date: "2019-03-06" modified: "2019-03-06" authors: - name: "Jon Christian" job_title: "Executive Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/jonc" url: "https://futurism.com/neoscope/fda-approves-ketamine-depression" categories: - "NASA" - "Space" tags: - "anxiety" - "depression" - "ketamine" - "the digest" --- # FDA Approves Ketamine-Based Nasal Spray to Treat Depression ![The Food and Drug Administration has approved a prescription treatment for depression that's based on ketamine, marking a new use for an old anesthetic.]() *\Image: Spravato/Victor Tangermann\* ## Ketamine Cleared On Wednesday, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved a prescription treatment for depression that's based on ketamine — and though they're advocating caution, researchers appear excited about a new avenue of treatment for stubborn symptoms of depression, anxiety, and suicidal thinking. "We’ve had nothing new in 30 years," Steven Hollon, a researcher at Vanderbilt University, [told the *New York* *Times*]() of the new treatment. "So if this drug is an effective way to get a more rapid response in people who are treatment resistant, and we can use it safely, then it could be a godsend." ## Club Drug Ketamine is an anesthetic that's perhaps best known as a recreational drug. But in recent years, it's also [gained attention]() as a promising treatment for depression and anxiety, prompting the rise of a [cottage industry]() of clinics that offer ketamine treatments. The FDA's approval of the new drug, which is called Spravato and made by Johnson & Johnson will make the treatment much more widely available — though the FDA is recommending it only for treatment-resistance depression. According to the *Times*, represents an alternative to long-dominant classes of antidepressant drugs, such as Prozac, which gained enormous media attention when they debuted but didn't give all patients the results they were looking for. ## Nasal Spray Some researchers urge caution, however, pointing out that depression is complex and that ketamine hasn't outperformed a placebo in every trial. "Thank goodness we now have something with a different mechanism of action than previous antidepressants," Erick Turner, a former FDA reviewer and psychiatry professor at Oregon Health and Science University, told the *Times*. "But I’m skeptical of the hype, because in this world it’s like Lucy holding the football for Charlie Brown: Each time we get our hopes up, the football gets pulled away." **READ MORE:** [Fast-Acting Depression Drug, Newly Approved, Could Help Millions]() \[*The New York Times*\] **More on depression and anxiety:** [*New Study: Microdosing DMT Reduces Depression and Anxiety*]() ## Author I'm responsible for editing, assigning, and scouting at Futurism, as well as occasionally writing for the site. That work involves keeping an eye on a wide range of narratives and issues, but over the past few years I've become increasingly interested in how AI is shaping the future of media, the web, and information itself. My day-to-day often involves collaborating on reporting and commentary projects bylined by my colleagues, but I try to find time to do my own reporting as well; stories I've broken for Futurism have been cited by publications including the New York Times, the Washington Post, the New Yorker, Wired, Ars Technica, New York Magazine, the Columbia Journalism Review, Bloomberg, and more. I grew up in Southern Vermont and attended Vanderbilt University. Prior to Futurism, I contributed to outlets including the Boston Globe, Vice, Wired, Slate, the Atlantic, the Outline, Ars Technica and more, and did stints in farming and food service. I currently live in Brooklyn, New York, and in my free time I enjoy pinball, word games, cycling, running, and music production. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()