Patient sues Minnesota hospital over controversial ketamine research

A Minnesota woman has filed a federal lawsuit against Hennepin Healthcare, accusing the hospital of forcibly injecting her with the powerful sedative ketamine and enrolling her in a clinical trial without her consent, the Star Tribune reports. According to the lawsuit, Brittany Buckley was restrained and given ketamine after paramedics and police responded to a welfare call at her apartment last year. After having trouble breathing, Buckley was intubated at the hospital and was later told she had been enrolled in ketamine research, the lawsuit alleges.

The study — which has since been halted — sparked outrage and drew scrutiny from federal officials. FDA inspectors recently found that the hospital’s review board failed to follow guidelines to protect patients and fast-tracked the review of ketamine studies that didn’t qualify for it.