The Royal College of Psychiatrists has spoken out on MDMA and ketamine, calling for the use of these substances in the management of mental health problems in exceptional cases, as reported by the Financial Times.
The British body is recommending that new ways be created for patients to access psychedelic-assisted treatments in exceptional cases. In what the newspaper calls a "rare appeal", Jonny Martell, a consultant psychiatrist, urged the UK authorities to adopt protocols allowing patients with no other options to be treated with experimental drugs under strict conditions, while warning against the risk of claims going beyond scientific evidence.
In a report published on September 19, the College, which is the main professional body for psychiatry in the UK, joined the growing number of other academics, politicians and charities that have been lobbying to ease the restrictions that hinder research into these substances.
Preliminary studies suggest that substances such as MDMA and ketamine can treat a wide range of conditions, including depression, post-traumatic stress and substance dependence. However, he warned that the evidence was not yet robust enough to justify their routine use.
"Around one in four people in the UK suffer from a mental health problem each year, which represents an estimated cost of £300 billion to the economy," writes the Financial Times.
Even so, treatment possibilities remain limited, according to Oliver Howes, chairman of the college's psychopharmacology committee and co-author of the report. He said that for every ten new cancer drugs that reach patients, only one psychiatric drug is made available to those in need of treatment.
So far, esketamine is the only psychedelic-related substance licensed for treatment in the UK. However, the drug is not available on the British national health service, as it was rejected by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence on the grounds of cost-effectiveness. The Royal College of Psychiatrists expressed disappointment at this decision.
David Nutt, director of the Centre for Neuropsychopharmacology at Imperial College London, considers the opinion to be positive, adding that research into psychedelics has been severely limited by legal restrictions. However, the expert hoped that the report would "go further".
