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News
High-profile deaths are shining a spotlight on the dangers of unregulated ketamine prescribing. Psychiatrists are calling for clear, enforceable standards of care — especially for patients with addiction histories — as the U.S. ketamine market surges past $5 billion. Without mandatory safety protocols for off-label use, the gap between ketamine's therapeutic promise and patient safety continues to widen.
The deaths of Presley Gerber and Matthew Perry — both allegedly prescribed ketamine by doctors aware of their addiction histories — have reignited urgent calls for standardized oversight of ketamine prescribing in the U.S. While ketamine is a legitimate and effective treatment for conditions like treatment-resistant depression and PTSD, its off-label use operates in a regulatory gray zone with no mandatory safety program comparable to the FDA's REMS requirement for esketamine (Spravato).
Psychiatrists and addiction specialists warn that the rapid expansion of ketamine clinics and telehealth platforms has outpaced patient safety standards. Risks include unsupervised at-home use, inadequate session monitoring, and prescribing without in-person evaluations — a landscape critics have dubbed the "Wild West." In the U.K., ketamine addiction treatment admissions have risen more than eightfold in the past decade, a cautionary signal for the U.S.
By the Numbers:
Why it matters: As ketamine use scales rapidly, the absence of uniform prescribing standards — particularly for high-risk patients with addiction histories — creates serious liability and patient safety gaps that demand immediate, evidence-based regulatory action.
