Max Schloemann, founder of MEDPLI, was published in a recent edition of The Health Lawyer, a bi-monthly American Bar Association publication that focuses on a wide range of health law issues.
His article, What Doctors and the Medical Field Need to Know About Ketamine and Malpractice Risk, traces the history of ketamine use in the medical field from Vietnam, where it was used as a “buddy drug” to today’s application in surgery and the mental health field.
As for why ketamine is such a popular treatment drug of choice, “ketamine results in an altered state of consciousness and works to reduce pain. Its ease of administration and efficiency has made it an ideal anesthetic option for surgeries and more recently, mental health treatments,” Max explains.
However, doctors need to know that they shouldn’t assume ketamine usage is covered under their current medical malpractice policies. “This may seem like a surprise – after all, ketamine is not a brand-new offering with unknown side effects,” says the insurance expert.
Bottom line – doctors need the correct medical malpractice insurance in place to cover the services they provide for each of their practices, especially for ketamine administration, which many policies DON’T include as standard.
“Surgeons, Ketamine infusion clinics, and other providers and their counsel need to proactively reach out to their insurance provider to ask if ketamine administration is covered under their current malpractice policy” Max advises.
To access the original article, click here.
