Our request
We ask CDC's Health Alert Network to consider issuing clinician guidance on ketamine-related polysubstance risk and urologic injury, grounded in the available evidence and clearly identifying areas of uncertainty.
The guidance should distinguish detection from causal contribution, avoid unsupported risk estimates, and provide practical direction for clinicians on recognizing and documenting relevant concerns and using appropriate clinical judgment.
Where recommendations rely on limited or evolving evidence, please say so plainly, cite the underlying sources, and identify what additional evidence would change or strengthen the guidance.
Why it matters
Many overdose deaths with ketamine also involved other substances. Bladder damage is another subject for clinician-facing information.
A carefully sourced advisory could help clinicians understand what is known and uncertain. This request does not assert that every co-detection represents a causal interaction or that an advisory has been shown to improve outcomes.
What good reporting looks like
- Use specific, current evidence and explain the populations and settings to which it applies.
- Separate polysubstance observations from conclusions about individual risk or causal contribution.
- Include a publication or update date and a process for revising guidance as evidence changes.