Benefits and risks of ketamine for depression

Psychiatrists say treatment can pose a major problem for patients with a history of addiction

- NNAH ALBERGA

The use of ketamine to treat depression and anxiety has increased in recent years as more doctors and researchers explore the drug's psychotherapeutic effects.

Ketamine can be a "life-saving" treatment for depression but also a major risk to patients with a history of addiction, Canadian psychiatrists say after U.S. authorities charged several people in connection with actor Matthew Perry's overdose death.

Police and prosecutors in California allege that five people, including two doctors, supplied the former "Friends" star with dangerous amounts of ketamine before his death last October. The Ottawaraised actor had been receiving legitimate ketamine infusion treatments for depression but turned to an illicit supply to obtain more doses, they said last month.

Dr. Rebecca Carriere, a psychiatrist who assesses patients for treatment at the Toronto Ketamine Clinic, said Perry should have never been offered the drug in the first place, given his struggles with alcohol and opioid abuse over the years.

"It highlights what we already know about ketamine - that there is a potential for addiction - that's why it's only administered in a clinical setting," Carriere said in an interview.