Inside STAT: Despite Trump's pressure, only 15 veterans have received esketamine

(STAT)

Late last summer, President Trump proudly proclaimed that he directed the VA to buy “a lot” of esketamine to treat depression in veterans. The drug, as the first major depression treatment to be approved in decades, was supposed to bring much-needed relief to veterans in need. But as of mid-December, the VA had only treated 15 veterans with the drug, which is sold as Spravato. And out of the VA’s more than 1,200 facilities, only seven carried Spravato. The slow rollout is partly due to looming questions over the data supporting Spravato’s use. “[The studies] are not robust. They’re not strong results. You pull one thread and the whole thing unravels,” Dr. Erick Turner, a psychiatrist at Oregon Health and Science University who treats patients at an Oregon VA facility, tells STAT’s Megan Thielking. Read more here.