Kamala Harris’ stepdaughter, Ella Emhoff, pushed for ketamine infusion therapy and shorter workdays, saying she suffers from a debilitating spinal condition.
Emhoff, 25, suggested to her 345,000 followers on her Instagram stories this week that she would use the drug as a solution to her “severe chronic back pain” that she says she has suffered from her entire life.
“I was born with a fixed spine (iykyk) which prevented my spine from developing properly as I grew and left me with a kyphosis (hunchback),” she wrote.
Her promotion of ketamine as a solution to her pain comes at a time when the medical industry is debating its effectiveness. This week, the topic was thrust into the spotlight when five people, including two doctors, were arrested in connection with the overdose of Matthew Perry.
Ella Emhoff, 25, Kamala Harris’ stepdaughter, revealed this week that she has chronic pain caused by a spinal problem — and promoted ketamine infusions as a possible solution
Emhoff is the daughter of Harris’ husband and Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff, and would become the “First Daughter” if Kamala is elected in November
Emhoff, who appeared this week with Hello Kitty stickers on her face, shared on her Instagram Stories that her back pain caused her to “go to the doctor or physical therapist occasionally for most of my adolescence.”
She added that she had grown “a million inches” after surgery on her lower back, but that this has not prevented her from now suffering from chronic pain.
Her stuck spine in particular is a problem that can lead to paralysis and pinched nerves, as the spinal cord becomes stuck to the inside of the spinal canal.
Emhoff, an activist, fashion designer and model signed to IMG, asked her fellow “chronic pain sufferers” for their pain management tips and what they do “to feel comfortable.”
She shared a Google Sheet titled “Big Pain Management List,” which listed a number of possible solutions, including ketamine infusions.
Other suggestions included getting 14 hours of sleep, not feeling “guilty about the pain,” hypnosis, and avoiding sugar and alcohol.
Emhoff shared a Google Sheet titled “Big Pain Management List,” which listed a number of potential solutions, including ketamine infusions
The 25-year-old fashion designer, artist and model said her debilitating back pain left her “in and out of doctors and physical therapists for most of her adolescence”
The 25-year-old warned that she was only sharing the tips to help her followers and that “this should not be taken as medical advice. I’m just a girl who wants to be in less pain.”
However, the promotion of ketamine infusion therapy comes at a time when the drug’s efficacy is still under debate within the medical community.
While it is still a controlled substance and banned for recreational use, it is legal when prescribed by doctors. The FDA also approved a nasal spray in 2019 to treat patients with treatment-resistant depression.
This drug is often prescribed for pain relief, but some doctors question whether it is appropriate for regular use.
Dr. Michael Harbison, a chiropractor from Las Vegas, told the New York Post that in these circumstances ‘there are much better options for dealing with the pain.’
He added that some of the suggestions on Emhoff’s list “are not meant for back pain, but just to get you high.”
The use of ketamine infusions came into the spotlight this week after five people, including two doctors, were arrested in connection with the October 2023 overdose of Friends star Matthew Perry.
The use of ketamine infusions came into the spotlight this week after five people were arrested in connection with the October 2023 overdose of Friends star Matthew Perry – pictured shortly before his death
The suspects were arrested on Thursday amid allegations they were part of a “large underground criminal network” that supplied Pery with the ketamine that killed him.
Doctors Salvador Plasencia, 42, and Mark Chavez, 54, alleged drug dealers Jasveen “Ketamine Queen” Sangha, 41, and Eric Fleming, 54, and Perry’s live-in assistant Kenneth Iwamasa, 59, have all been charged.
Prosecutors allege the group exploited the vulnerable star’s addiction problems, with doctors even calling him an “idiot” in cruel texts discussing how to exploit him further.
Perry was found unconscious in the hot tub of his LA home by Iwamasa on October 28. His cause of death was later determined to be “the acute effects of ketamine.”