Kamala Harris' step-daughter Ella Emhoff suggests ketamine—drug that killed Matthew Perry—for 'pain management'

Ella Emhoff, the stepdaughter of Vice President Kamala Harris, recently suggested using ketamine as a method for coping with the pain stemming from a spinal condition that caused her to develop a "hunchback. Surgeries alleviated the condition but resulted in lingering pain. In a recent social media post, the 25-year-old daughter of Doug Emhoff shared her experience of suffering from “bad chronic back pain” for most of her life. Harris and Emhoff married ten years ago.

”I was born with a tethered spine (iykyk) which caused my back to not properly lengthen when I was growing and caused a kyphosis (hunchback),”  Emhoff explained in an Instagram story post, which included a selfie of her with Hello Kitty stickers on her face. She went on to describe how she spent much of her adolescence “in and out of doctors and physical therapy.” After undergoing lower back surgery, she noted that she “grew a million inches” but continued to deal with chronic pain. The New York Post revealed the posts.

Emhoff then shared another post with a link to a Google Sheet titled “Big Pain Management List.” This list offers a variety of pain management suggestions, ranging from devices to exercises, therapies, and books. Among the listed options recommended to her 345,000 followers was “ketamine infusions.”

Ketamine is an anesthetic that is often used during surgery. It is also referred to as the "chemical cousin" of the recreation drug PCP, according to the AP. When used for recreational use it can cause euphoria, hallucinations, and impact breathing and the heart. It has also increasingly been used by those who suffer from depression, anxiety, and pain despite not being approved for these conditions.

Ketamine has also gained attention recently as the drug involved in the overdose of Friends actor Matthew Perry last October, following his long struggle with addiction. Last week, several individuals who supplied and administered the drug to Perry were arrested in connection with his death.

In addition to ketamine, Emhoff’s pain management list included recommendations such as “not feeling guilty about the pain, sleep 14 hours, complaining, crying, acceptance, hypnosis, eliminating sugar and no alchohol [sic].” 

“These are all just recommendations made to me these should not be taken as medical advice i am just a girl trynna feel less pain,” Emhoff wrote.