Dr. Ben Yudkoff, Co-Founder and Chief Medical Officer at Lumin Health, hosted a Reddit AMA on r/TherapeuticKetamine community on March 6th, 2026\. The below blog post is a recap of one of the questions presented on that AMA, syndicated to the Lumin Health blog in the event that it answers any questions about ketamine therapy, Spravato treatment, or general concerns you may have about treatment.
[https://www.reddit.com/r/TherapeuticKetamine/comments/1rj2blv/ama\_im\_dr\_ben\_yudkoff\_psychiatrist\_cofounder/](https://www.reddit.com/r/TherapeuticKetamine/comments/1rj2blv/ama_im_dr_ben_yudkoff_psychiatrist_cofounder/)
Don’t hesitate to get in touch with us if you’re interested in learning more about ketamine for depression at Lumin Health. Thank you once again to the moderators and community members for facilitating such an engaging discussion.
Hapenny734 asks:
Halfpenny 734 asks, is there a path forward for FDA approval for ketamine, not as ketamine as a treatment for depression, PTSD, and suicidal ideation? My suspicion is no one is funding necessary trials because there isn't much profit to be made from an already generic drug. Also, recognize the challenges in a double blind studies for dissociated products. Thanks,
Answer from Dr. Ben Yudkoff, Co-Founder and Chief Medical Officer of Lumin Health:
Happenny. I think your intuition is spot on. Being that ketamine is a generic medication, it is difficult to monetize - the cost of research and development to bring ketamine through the phases of FDA approval is likely more expensive than a potential expected return FDA-aproved use. That said, there are some studies happening in other countries involving r-ketamine (the mirror-image enantiomer to esketamine, aka “s-ketamine”) with some potential movement on bringing r-ketamine to market in a pill-based version.
Interestingly, the concern around double blinding comes up all the time but because of the nature of what represents the highest relevance studies, the community of researchers, by and large, still hold this as standard. It’s a funny world out there…
But as far as the parent molecule ketamine, I haven't heard anything about R&D for ketamine moving through FDA clearance and I think you’re right: it is financially motivated. That said, some insurance companies still approve its use in its IV formulation, rendering FDA approval less relevant.
In MA there are only two insurances that have ketamine parity, meaning they approve ketamine for the same conditions for which esketamine is approved. It's hard out there and it has material consequences for people. Just so you know (glimmer of hope), there is a task force of MDs at the NNDC (the National Network of Depression Centers (of which I was once a part)) - a collective of academic psychiatrists who are pushing the conversation forward - who are advocating for exactly what you're looking for. There's still more conversation happening...
I'm sorry that your own treatment is stymied by this process. I sincerely wish you the best of luck in finding what you're looking for. If you receive care in MA and I can be of any help to you, please let me know.
