Ketamine pills for depression show positive results in trial—but with caveats

Enlarge (credit: Getty | RJ Sangosti)

After an MDMA therapy for post-traumatic stress disorder dramatically failed to impress Food and Drug Administration advisers earlier this month, researchers are moving forward with another psychedelic—a slow-release oral dose of the hallucinogenic drug ketamine—as a therapy for treatment-resistant depression.

In a mid-stage, randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial, researchers tested slow-release ketamine pills, taken twice weekly.