Role of the Pharmacist in Managing Treatment-Resistant Depression: A Focus on Ketamine
Pharmacy June 25, 2021 Linda Xing Yu Liu, Marina Golts, Virginia Fernandes 2 citations
Depression is especially debilitating when patients do not respond to multiple treatments, a condition called treatment-resistant depression (TRD). Ketamine, an anesthetic that blocks NMDA receptors, has recently shown effectiveness for TRD when given intravenously or intranasally. However, in Canada, access is limited by prescribing restrictions, high costs, and slow adoption of evidence-based practice. The authors argue that novel approaches should be adopted through a multidisciplinary effort, with pharmacists playing a key role in disseminating evidence, collaborating with prescribers, addressing barriers, and managing medication access during transitions of care to improve management of TRD.