|
Health
|
|
An Advance in Treating Depression*
|
|
|
|
Lauren Pestikas received an infusion of ketamine at a Chicago clinic to treat depression last year. PHOTO: TERESA CRAWFORD/ASSOCIATED PRESS
|
|
|
Depression can be crippling, and a significant portion of people do not respond to treatment. This week marked the first major new option for these patients in decades: FDA approved J&J's Spravato, which has been shown to work in treatment-resistant depression--and in a matter of hours instead of the weeks that older drugs like SSRIs can take.
Many doctors have hailed it as a breakthrough, but it comes with a big asterisk. The drug is related to ketamine, an anesthetic that has been used for decades in surgery, but is also abused as a party drug. Its heady effects on the brain have earned it the nickname Special K. Some health-care experts are concerned about diversion and abuse of the new drug--which is a very portable nasal spray instead of the IV infusion that has been administered off-label for depression.
Spravato can induce side effects like dissociation, feeling detached from reality, which subside. The FDA placed restrictions on the drug's distribution, and it must be administered in a certified medical office where a patient can be monitored.
There are always tradeoffs of risk and benefit with any drug. Does the need for new treatments for depression outweigh the risk of abuse? Share your thoughts by responding to this email. I will start sharing readers' comments, which may be edited before publication in the newsletter. Please be sure to include your name and location.
– Stefanie Ilgenfritz, Health & Science Bureau Chief, WSJ
Reach me at stefanie.ilgenfritz@wsj.com or Twitter: @stefaniei
|
|
|
Bold Face Names in Pharma
|
|
|
|
Remember Him? Martin Shkreli, the disgraced drug executive and "pharma bro" who gained notoriety for jacking up drug prices, is still running his company--from prison on a contraband cellphone. He is in jail for securities fraud, and his involvement with Phoenixus AG, formerly Turing Pharmaceuticals, could prove perilous.
|
|
|
|
Purdue Pharma Preparing Possible Bankruptcy Filing: The OxyContin maker is preparing a possible filing as it seeks to contain liability from hundreds of lawsuits alleging it fueled the nation’s opioid epidemic, according to people familiar with the matter.
|
|
FDA Chief Scott Gottlieb to Leave Agency: The departure puts into question the fate of some of the initiatives that the commissioner championed, often through active use of social media, such as speeding up the approval of cheaper generic drugs.
|
|
|
|
|
Action on Anti-Vaccine Messaging
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
A Push for Teens to Get Alone Time With Their Doctors: Private conversations are important as young patients grapple with sensitive health issues from vaping to depression to birth control, doctors say. That means parents step out of the room.
|
|
|
VA Seeks to Improve Care for Women: The number of women veterans using the health system has soared in recent years. The VA says it has made headway in services ranging from gynecological care to mental-health treatment associated with sexual trauma.
|
|
|
|
|
|
A London man infected with HIV may be the second person to beat the virus, following a stem-cell transplant from a donor who was genetically resistant to HIV, researchers reported this week. If the man, whose name wasn't disclosed, continues to remain HIV-free, he would become only the second patient to be cured. The first, known as the “Berlin Patient,” was cured about a decade ago following a stem-cell transplant for leukemia. The approach couldn't be applied to the millions of people with HIV as it requires a stem-cell transplant--and from a donor with a very particular genetic trait on a gene known as CCR5 (see above). But as one researcher put it, “The fact that it has now been repeated is really very
exciting. It does demonstrate that a cure is possible.”
|
|
|
“The pipeline could be stronger, there’s no question.” (Read more)
|
— Werner Baumann, CEO of Bayer AG, which is facing a so-called patent cliff of expirations on drug exclusivity, as it also battles lawsuits over its weedkillers.
|
|
|
|
|
-
Biogen Buys Gene Therapy for Rare Eye Diseaset (Read more)
-
Health-Care Industry Debates Hospital Accreditation Rules (Read more)
-
Digital-Health Startup Livongo Eyes 2019 IPO (Read more)
|
|
|
LEAVE THIS BOX EMPTY
|