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VA declines broad coverage for new J&J depression drug touted by Trump

The VA has declined to offer widespread coverage for a depression drug that received an express endorsement from President Trump.

WASHINGTON — A Department of Veterans Affairs committee has declined to approve widespread coverage of a new depression treatment that has generated controversy but also received an express endorsement from President Trump. Instead, the drug was approved on a more limited basis.

Many experts have embraced the medication, which is known as esketamine and is being sold by Johnson & Johnson () under the brand name Spravato, as a critical

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