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The very article you're commenting on directly contradicts what you're saying. Big pharma is actively running studies and trying to get this fast tracked for treatment in the US and Europe.

Granted the article is somewhat poor reporting because the title should read "esketamine" not ketamine.

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Esketamine is the patentable isomer they're trying to use to enable this process of patenting + FDA so the drug companies can make a return. So the end result is a very expensive drug that insurance would pay for vs a cheap drug with 90% of the benefits that insurance won't pay for.

esketamine is simply the S-ketamine stereoisomer. TFA calls it part of the ketamine molecule but it is the ketamine molecule.

Yeah, this is basically a variation of the POTAXOR strategy [1]. Well, whatever it takes to get it into the hands of sick people! But I think it is a commentary on the system that it will take decades after we had good evidence for ketamine's effectiveness.

[1] http://slatestarcodex.com/2014/06/15/fish-now-by-prescriptio...

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