6 NEWS
6 NEWS
16 JUNE 2023 ausdoc . com . au
Is this a psychedelic cash cow delusion ?
Clinics set to offer $ 20,000 psychedelic treatments for severe depression from July .
Paul Smith and Carmel Sparke
IS $ 20,000 a fair fee to charge those with severe depression for a treatment many regard as experimental ?
Does it exploit their desperation for a fix to an illness that blights their world so deeply ?
Back in February , in one of the most controversial decisions in its history , the TGA decided to reclassify psychedelic substances as S8s , making them a therapeutic option for psychiatrists outside a clinical trial .
That decision , the first of its kind anywhere in the world , means that from 1 July , MDMA can be used to treat PTSD , and psilocybin as a last resort for treatment-resistant depression .
Psychiatrists concerned
Some senior psychiatrists are alarmed . But demand-and-supply economics apply here . And clinics are already being set up to offer both drugs as part of psychedelic-assisted treatment programs costing between $ 15,000 and $ 20,000 .
Incannex Healthcare formally announced to the ASX that it was creating a company called Psychennex which will run a chain of practices under the brand name Clarion Clinics .
The first ‘ prototype ’ clinic on a leased riverfront site in Abbotsford , Melbourne , is undergoing a fit-out , with the plan that it will open its doors in September .
It will apparently have the capacity to treat 600 patients per year .
“ We then plan to roll out much bigger clinics as quickly as we can in the major metropolitan centres ,” the clinic ’ s director Peter Widdows says .
So the idea is one in Sydney next year and another in Brisbane in 2025 , with Perth , Adelaide , Canberra and the Gold Coast following in 2026 .
Clarion says the potential patient pool is large , with about 390,000 Australians experiencing PTSD and another 280,000 with treatment-resistant depression .
While Clarion estimates that fewer than 20 % will initially be interested in psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy , that is
still a pool of 120,000 seeking treatment . But exactly what are the treatment protocols to be used ? That is not so clear . But it is important to stress that the therapeutic approach is unusual .