Trump offers to assist VA in negotiating new depression treatment’s price

In a meeting at the White House yesterday, President Trump said he believes a new Johnson & Johnson depression drug could help curb the rate of veteran suicides — and even offered to help the VA negotiate access to the treatment, Bloomberg reports. The drug, called esketamine and sold under the brand name Spravato, was approved in March for patients with depression who haven’t been helped by existing treatments. Trump said he had “read really quite a bit” about the treatment and thinks it could lead to an “incredible” drop in veteran suicides, according to Bloomberg. But when the drug was approved, some experts raised concerns about whether there was enough data on its efficacy and how it should be used in the long run. VA Secretary Robert Wilkie, who was also at the White House meeting on opioid abuse, said the agency is aiming to have Spravato available in every VA hospital by the end of the year.