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Ethical considerations in rapid and novel treatments in psychiatry

Tobias Haeusermann, Winston Chiong

Neuropsychopharmacology 2024 DOI: 10.1038/s41386-023-01635-y (opens in new tab)

Study at a glance

AI-extracted from the abstract
Characteristics Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed
Key points Proposes that emerging treatments like psychedelics, ketamine, and neuromodulatory technologies raise ethical concerns in three domains: informed consent, expectancy effects, and distributive justice.

Abstract

New treatment modalities for mental illness are deeply needed, and emerging therapeutic agents such as psychedelics, ketamine, and neuromodulatory technologies have been welcomed by many researchers and patients. These treatment approaches have also been observed to raise novel ethical questions, and to pose new and different versions of familiar ethical questions in clinical treatment and research. We present an overview and introduction to these issues organized around three specific domains of ethical concern: informed consent, the role of expectancy in clinical response, and distributive justice.