The goal of the webinar is to “dispel fears and myths surrounding ketamine therapy” in the wake of Matthew Perry's death.
Ketamine Clinics Los Angeles (KCLA) announced that it will host a free webinar addressing the misconceptions surrounding ketamine in the wake of actor Matthew Perry’s death.
Hosted by KCLA co-founders Dr. Steven Mandel and Sam Mandel, the webinar is scheduled for 1 p.m. PST on Jan. 5. The webinar is open to the public.
In the webinar, Steven and Sam Mandel “will address the facts and myths about ketamine, distinguishing between the therapeutic uses for mental health and illicit uses of the FDA-approved medication.” They also plan to discuss details reported about Perry’s death, with the caveat that they have “no insider knowledge of his ketamine treatments or his personal life.”
On Dec. 15, the County of Los Angeles Department of Medical Examiner announced that the cause of Perry’s accidental death was “the acute effects of ketamine.” Contributing factors included drowning, coronary artery disease and the effects of buprenorphine, which was used to treat opioid-use disorder.
“First and foremost, our reaction to the initial news of Mr. Perry’s passing was sadness,” KCLA CEO Sam Mandel said in a news release. “Mr. Perry shared publicly regarding his mental-health struggles, and we send our deepest condolences to his family and friends.
“Regarding the news of the toxicology report, we find it very frustrating and misleading that the spin doctors and media bias against ketamine have twisted this sad loss into another opportunity for ketamine bashing. Not only did Mr. Perry self-administer a sufficient dose to produce general anesthesia – more than 10 times the amount given for depression – but he did so in combination with buprenorphine (an opioid) and a benzodiazepine (a sedative) while alone in a hot tub, and lost consciousness and drowned.”
Founded in 2014, Ketamine Clinics Los Angeles was one of the first ketamine clinics to open in the United States. The company noted that it provides hospital-grade monitoring of electrogram, blood pressure, pulse rate, oxygen saturation and respiratory rate during ketamine-infusion treatments. The company’s clinical staff members are all trained in basic life support, advanced cardiac life support and moderate sedation by the American Society of Anesthesiologists.
“When used responsibly as a therapeutic agent, ketamine is among the safest, most effective, fastest-acting mental-health treatments available today,” said Steven Mandel, a board-certified anesthesiologist. “This is not anecdotal. More than 200 clinical studies on ketamine for depression have been completed at leading scientific institutions, proving the safety and efficacy of ketamine for mental health. Dozens of them are peer-reviewed. Ketamine has also been proven as more effective than electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) and quetiapine in head-to-head studies.”
He added that no questions will be “off-limits” during the webinar.
To register for KCLA’s free webinar, click here.