Misuse to Medicine: Reclaiming Healing Ketamine from the Diddy Headlines

At Ember, we’ve been disturbed to read the allegations surrounding the federal lawsuit against Sean “Diddy” Combs. In particular, we’ve been saddened to read the testimony of Casandra “Cassie” Ventura, who cites the abuse of ketamine in coerced sexual encounters, among other substances including ecstasy, cocaine, marijuana, GHB, and alcohol.

Whenever ketamine is referenced in popular media, it understandably raises concerns and confusion among our patients and people considering IV ketamine care for their depression. While the revelations of the Diddy case are horrifying, it is critical to separate the reckless misuse of ketamine in this situation from its established and evidence-based medical use.

At Ember Health, we are committed to educating our community about the safe, therapeutic use of ketamine. Our IV ketamine infusions are delivered in a controlled medical setting, under the guidance of licensed professionals, and supported by extensive research demonstrating ketamine’s effectiveness in treating major depression, and its confluence with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and other mood disorders.

Three decades of data affirm the power of ketamine for patients who have not responded to or opted for more conventional treatments. In fact, ketamine has been the most studied drug for depression in the last 30 years (source). Beyond its powerful antidepressant effect, IV ketamine has also shown powerful results in addressing PTSD. A landmark study in JAMA Psychiatry (Feder et al., 2014) showed rapid symptom reduction in patients with chronic PTSD after a single infusion. A 2021 review in Nature Neuroscience emphasized ketamine’s novel mechanism for restoring synaptic connections damaged by trauma and depression. These studies highlight what makes ketamine so powerful, not as a tool for exploitation, but as a medication offering hope to those most in need.

It is profoundly tragic that individuals with histories of trauma and abuse, like those described in the Diddy case, may also be the very patients who stand to benefit from ketamine therapy when administered responsibly. At Ember, 84% of our patients who have a baseline diagnosis of depression (many of whom also suffer from anxiety, PTSD, and complex trauma) have experienced meaningful improvements with IV ketamine treatments.

We cannot allow the misuse of ketamine in high-profile abuse cases to cloud public perception, or restrict access for those suffering. As with any powerful medication, the issues lie not in the substance itself, but in how it is used. At Ember Health, our mission is to define and expand access to the gold standard of IV ketamine care for depression. With each new patient, we demonstrate how safe, ethical care can offer a pathway—even through great trauma—to relief and recovery.