Children as young as 13 referred to Liverpool clinic over ketamine bladder damage
Children as young as 13 are being referred to a Liverpool specialist clinic for bladder damage linked to ketamine, with rising referrals and an average patient age of 14.
The Full Story
A plain summary built from the channels that reported this story.
Children as young as 13 are being referred to a specialist clinic in Liverpool for bladder damage linked to ketamine use, according to new analysis. The clinic opened last year and referrals are rising. The average age of patients there is 14.
Ketamine is cheap, but sustained use can cause serious harm. It can lead to incontinence or, in extreme cases, kidney failure that requires dialysis. Clinicians warn the damage can spread from the bladder up the ureters to the kidneys if young users are not supported to stop.
The report followed one family's experience. Cheryl's daughter was 13 when she was first offered ketamine by a group of older teenagers. She used the drug for 10 months without her mother knowing. She eventually told her mother after experiencing severe pain, headaches, shaking, vomiting and nausea.
She was taken to hospital and went into severe withdrawal. Her mother described her retching and vomiting, and being unable to eat. The mother said it was awful and that she felt bad for not realising what had been happening. Her daughter got clean without long-term impacts.
The case has led to calls for more to be done to protect young people from the highly addictive, highly destructive drug. The concern is that without support to stop using ketamine, children face progressive damage to the bladder, ureters and kidneys, and in extreme cases kidney failure.
On screen
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Key Claims
Claims reported during this story's coverage, mapped by channel. Ordered by how many channels carried each claim.
| Claim | ITV |
|---|---|
| Children as young as 13, with an average age of 14, have been referred to a specialist clinic in Liverpool for bladder problems linked to ketamine. | |
| Sustained ketamine use can lead to incontinence or kidney failure requiring dialysis. |
Channel Perspectives
What each channel focused on, with key quotes.
ITV1 led its lunchtime coverage with the rising number of young ketamine patients at a Liverpool clinic. It combined clinical warnings about bladder, ureter and kidney damage with the story of Cheryl and her 13-year-old daughter, who used ketamine for 10 months before severe withdrawal. The tone was concerned and parent-focused, stressing that the drug is cheap, addictive and destructive.
- “New analysis has found teenagers as young as 13 are being admitted to a specialist clinic for a bladder condition linked to the sustained use of ketamine.”
- “The clinic was only opened last year and referrals to it are rising.”
- “She was just 13 years old when she was first offered the drug by a group of older teenagers.”
Broadcast Timeline
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