Ethicists Question Study’s Use of Drug

Medical ethicists are raising objections to a study in which 100 healthy volunteers were given a powerful hallucinogen in an effort to better understand mental illness. In studies conducted at the National Institute of Mental Health, Yale University and several other places, test subjects took small doses of ketamine, also known as “Special K” or the “date rape drug.” Scientists conducting the study said volunteers were carefully screened for mental illness and signed consent forms that warned of side effects such as hallucinations and mood changes. Some critics said the risks of the drug are not clear and questioned the ethics of inducing psychotic behavior in healthy people.