Esketamine Nasal Spray Eases Depression Symptoms In Suicidal Patients

The depression drug esketamine, marketed as Spravato, appears to offer quick relief to people who are actively considering suicide.
Esketamine, a chemical cousin of the anesthetic and party drug ketamine, reduced depression symptoms within hours in two large studies of suicidal patients, the drug's maker announced Monday.
The studies, which included 456 patients who were suicidal, found that after 24 hours, patients who got the drug along with standard treatment were less depressed than people who got standard treatment alone.
Surprisingly, though, patients who got esketamine were not significantly less suicidal, even though they had fewer symptoms of depression.
The finding came from two studies sponsored by the drug's maker, Johnson & Johnson, and presented at the 32nd European College of Neuropsychopharmacology meeting in Copenhagen.