EAST PEORIA (25News Now) – Ketamine therapy is becoming a more popular treatment for resistant mental health disorders, and a treatment center owner in East Peoria said the practice can change lives, despite the barriers it faces.
The drug is classified as a dissociative anesthetic and a Schedule III drug by the Drug Enforcement Administration. It was first created in the 1960s as an anesthetic, but was rediscovered in low doses as a mental health treatment. The Anxiety and Depression Association of America has called it a “breakthrough treatment for anxiety, depression, and suicidality.”
Janet Albertson, the owner of Genesys Infusion Center in East Peoria, said ketamine therapy can be a life-changing treatment for people with medication-resistant mental health disorders, specifically depression, anxiety, and PTSD.
Albertson said in her clinic, people receive six 45-minute IV infusions over two to three weeks. Then, they receive a monthly treatment, or treatments on a need-based basis. She said it works by allowing neurotransmitters in the brain to be refreshed so that chemicals, like other mental health medications, can work more efficiently.
“If the communication holes in those synapses are clogged, the medicine isn’t going to work,” Albertson said. “Ketamine actually comes in and refreshes the synapses.”
She said 80% to 95% of patients she sees who find their current mental health treatment resistant benefit from the ketamine therapy.
Albertson said that although many primary health care providers are coming around to the idea of the treatment’s effectiveness on mental health, she said there are still barriers to treatment for patients.
One infusion at her facility is $425, and insurance will not cover IV infusions.
“In bigger cities, the range for each infusion was $250 to $1000,” Albertson said. “Originally it was $400, but with costs having gone up, I had to bump up to $425.“
Albertson said she and other providers would be skeptical if insurance began to cover infusions, however.
She said infusions are also not FDA-approved. Spravato, a nasal spray, is FDA approved, and some insurance will cover it. She added that it can be difficult to get that coverage.
Albertson also said the nasal spray has different effects than a slowly released and controlled infusion, and that she does not prefer that method of treatment.
Genesys Infusion Center is one of only two ketamine treatment facilities in the Tri-County region, the other one being Occult Mental Health in Tremont.
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